FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

South Africa: Sexual Violence

Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress he is making on tackling sexual violence in South Africa.

William Hague: Levels of gender-based violence in South Africa are among the highest in the world. The UK Government have committed £4 million to working with the South African Government, UN agencies, and civil society to tackle the root causes.

Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent national dialogue conference in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: The National Dialogue Conference will address Yemen's complex legacy of challenges, reshape its political landscape, and prepare for a new constitution. I welcome the involvement of previously marginalised groups, including women and Yemeni youth. Success depends on broad participation and we urge everyone, especially Southern leaders, to embrace this process.

Sexual Violence in Conflict

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to implement the G8 declaration on preventing sexual violence in conflict; and if he will make a statement.

William Hague: Following the adoption of the historic G8 declaration we will take the campaign to the UN and begin implementation immediately. GB peacekeeping experts meet next week to discuss the commitments on military training and work begins next month in The Hague, London and Geneva on the development of the protocol.

Al-Qaeda

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on a link between Jabhat-al-Nasra and al-Qaeda.

Alistair Burt: We are aware of the reports linking the al-Nusrah Front with al-Qaeda. We are concerned about any terrorist groups gaining a foothold in Syria, which is one of the reasons why we are working with Syria's opposition National Coalition to ensure a strong and representative moderate voice capable of meeting the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.

Bahrain

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Bahrain Government's implementation of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry's recommendations in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Alistair Burt: Our ambassador and his team regularly discuss implementation of the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) and the UN Human Rights Council Periodic Review with the Government of Bahrain, including the Minister for Justice, who heads the BICI Follow-Up Unit. The Unit published two reports last year, detailing progress made since the BICI presented their recommendations to HM the King in November 2011. While progress has been made in certain areas, there is still more to be done and we continue to raise this with the Bahraini authorities. We support the reforms already under way, and will continue to provide targeted and practical assistance to help bring long-term stability to the Kingdom.
	I welcome the ongoing National Consensus Dialogue and encourage all sides to play an inclusive and constructive role in the process.

Bahrain

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received following the inclusion of Bahrain as a case study in his Department's 2011 Human Rights report, published in April 2012.

Alistair Burt: I regularly meet a variety of organisations to discuss human rights in Bahrain, as do officials at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the ambassador and his team in country. These meetings include human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International; the Bahraini Government; the Bahraini opposition; other political societies; members of the Bahraini Parliament; and Bahraini civil society.
	I believe the Government of Bahrain remain committed to improving their human rights record, including full implementation of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review. However, as I continue to voice both in private and in public, more needs to be done. Our decision to include Bahrain as a case study in 2011 FCO Human Rights Report, and to do so for the 2012 Report, reflects our view of the current trend of events and concerns.

Cyprus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support he is giving to British nationals stationed in Akrotiri and Dhekelia in the light of the current economic situation in Cyprus.

Andrew Robathan: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
	Armed forces personnel serving in Cyprus, and their families accompanying them, will be protected from any losses on their personal deposits in Cyprus-based banks as a result of recent events there.

India

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the protection of Christians and other religious minorities in India; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: There continue to be incidents of discrimination against religious minorities, including Christians, in India. In response, the Indian Government have a range of policies and programmes to support religious minorities.
	I discussed issues of discrimination against minority communities with Indian human rights organisations during my visit to India in March. The British high commissioner in New Delhi also met the Indian Minister for Minorities on 7 March to reinforce our concerns.

Mali

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Mali; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: The situation in Mali is stabilising but fragile. French-led military operations are drawing down and African troops are playing an increasing role in maintaining security. Negotiations for deployment of a UN Peacekeeping Operation are currently under way, and UK trainers have deployed to the EU Training Mission for the Malian armed forces.

North Korea

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking in response to the recent actions of North Korea.

William Hague: Our assessment remains that there is no immediate risk to British nationals living or travelling in the Korean peninsula. But North Korea's rhetoric and behaviour pose a serious risk to the stability of the region, which includes several of the world's largest economies.
	The impact of miscalculation by the North Korean regime could extend well beyond its region. That is why the international response must remain clear, calm and united.

Sexual Offences

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria will be used to determine to which countries experts should be deployed as part of the preventing sexual violence initiative.

Mark Simmonds: When considering a deployment, we take a number of factors into account, including the extent and impact of sexual violence, the national and international response to date and the particular role the UK can play in reinforcing or complementing existing efforts. We also consult closely with the UN and other organisations working on the ground to determine how, and where, the team will be of most assistance.

Sexual Offences

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the UK team of experts on preventing sexual violence will be deployed to (a) South Sudan, (b) Bosnia, (c) Mali, (d) Syrian borders and (e) Democratic Republic of Congo; and what their priorities will be in each country.

Mark Simmonds: In December last year members of the UK Team of Experts deployed to the Syrian Borders to deliver training for local health care professionals on sexual violence and effective evidence gathering. In March this year members of the Team worked alongside the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to deliver capacity building training to members of the local judiciary in Bosnia. Work is Ongoing to prepare for deployments this year to Mali, DRC, South Sudan and a further deployment to the Syrian Borders. The focus, prioritisation and timing for each of these deployments will be the result of consultation with international, national and local partners as well as our network of Posts.

Sri Lanka

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Sri Lankan Government since the UN Human Rights Council resolution on political reconciliation in that country.

Alistair Burt: I met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister on 22 April. I made clear that the UK expected Sri Lanka to improve its human rights record. The UK supported the March 2013 UN Human Rights Council resolution on human rights in Sri Lanka because it reflects our concern over insufficient progress in post war reconciliation and lack of accountability for alleged violations of international law during the war. I also raised recent attacks and restrictions on the press and urged swift action to investigate incidents and ensure freedom of reporting.

Syria

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) the US, (b) the EU and (c) France; and what comparative assessment he has made of the policy towards Syria of the UK and those foreign policy factors.

Alistair Burt: Syria is an international problem, and demands an international solution. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discusses the issue frequently with counterparts in the US, France, EU institutions, and indeed many other countries from around the world. He spoke about Syria in detail with all the states outlined above within the last few days, many of them at a meeting of the Core Group of the Friends of Syria. We share a common aim: an end to the killing and a more stable and democratic Syria. And we share a common understanding of how to achieve it through increasing our support to the moderate opposition—who made a clear statement at Istanbul last weekend about their commitments, including distancing themselves from extremism—and putting pressure on the Assad regime.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Bombings: Omagh

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Omagh families and (b) the Irish Government about the 1998 Omagh bombing; and if she will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: I met representatives of the Omagh Support and Self Help Group on 25 February to discuss the report which they commissioned and their request for an inquiry. I have also met the Irish Government on this matter and hope to do so again soon.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Travel

Priti Patel: To ask the Leader of the House 
	(1)  how many officials in his Office stayed in hotels in (a) the UK and (b) every other country during the last five years; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest such hotel expenses in each such year;
	(2)  how many officials in his Office travelled on (a) domestic and (b) international flights in each of the last five years; in which class categories; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest airfare charges in each such year.

Andrew Lansley: The Office of the Leader of the House of Commons is part of the Cabinet Office. Our answer will be included in the response by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, shortly.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Leader of the House if he will bring forward proposals to set up a parliamentary Select Committee to scrutinise the workings of UK Trade and Investment.

Andrew Lansley: There are no plans to set up a new Committee, which would be contrary to the recommendations of the House of Commons Reform Committee to seek to reduce the overall numbers of parliamentary Select Committees (House of Commons Reform Committee, First Report of Session 2008-09, “Rebuilding the House”, HC 117).
	The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee periodically review the workings of UK Trade and Investment and some of its operations in overseas markets. More recently, the House of Lords ad hoc Committee on SME exports published its report which explores the workings of UK Trade and Investment (“Road to Success: SME Exports”, 8 March 2013, HL Paper 131).

HOME DEPARTMENT

Andrey Pavlov

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what data is held by border control authorities on the movements of Andrey Pavlov, a Russian citizen, in and out of the UK since 1 October 2012.

Mark Harper: holding answer 22 April 2013
	It is long-standing policy not to disclose details of records which may be held in relation to arrivals in the United Kingdom.

Antisocial Behaviour

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many responses from members of the public to her Department's 2011 consultation on antisocial behaviour proposed the abolition of the antisocial behaviour order.

Jeremy Browne: The 2011 consultation sought views on the proposed new powers to deal with antisocial behaviour, not specifically on the repeal of the antisocial behaviour order, and 425 members of the public responded to the consultation. Of these, 40% thought the proposed new powers would be more effective and only 9% thought they would be less effective than the current measures.

Antisocial Behaviour

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many responses from front-line professionals to her Department's 2011 consultation on antisocial behaviour proposed the abolition of the antisocial behaviour order.

Jeremy Browne: The 2011 consultation sought views on the proposed replacements for a number of powers available to deal with antisocial behaviour, not specifically on the repeal of the antisocial behaviour order. A total of 547 front-line professionals and organisations representing their interests responded to the consultation. Of these, 57% thought the proposed new powers would be more effective and only 9% thought they would be less effective than the current measures.

Asylum: Iraq

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many representations the UN has made to the UK on granting asylum to residents of Camp Liberty in Iraq.

Mark Harper: A total of 17 individuals in Camp Liberty have so far been referred by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the Home Office for consideration of their re-admission to the UK as refugees. We are seeking further information about the progress of other cases which are being examined by the UNHCR.

Cannabis: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police raids on properties in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber resulted in the discovery of cannabis farms in the last 12 months.

Damian Green: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The requested information is not collected by the Home Office.

Dementia

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether her Department has a dementia strategy.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not have a dementia strategy. The Home Office does have a diversity strategy which covers disability.

Deportation: Appeals

Michael Crockart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the UK Border Agency is reconsidering the case of Mr Edrick Phanuel Mazarodze; and when the Agency plans to respond to his request for a reconsideration of the decision for removal.

Mark Harper: The Home Office will be writing to the hon. Member separately on this individual case once the application has been reconsidered.

Deportation: Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  of those foreign nationals deported under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, what (a) crimes they were found guilty of and (b) length of custodial sentence they served in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(2)  of those foreign nationals deported under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, (a) what offences they were found guilty of and (b) what length of custodial sentence they received in each year since the Act came into force.

Mark Harper: The following table shows the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) deported under Section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 since it came into force.
	
		
			 FNOs under Section 32 of UK Borders Act 2007, to 31 December 2012 
			  Removal year  
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Grand total 
			  Length of custodial sentence 
			 Offence Type <1 year >=1 year and <3 years >=3 years and <10 years >= 10 years and <15 years 15 years + Grand total 
			 FNO Deported under Section 32 109 1,703 2,324 1,921 1,884 7,941 
			 Of which:       
			 Alteration/Possession of a False Document 6 203 4 — — 213 
			 Armed Robbery 1 2 2 — — 5 
			 Arson — 6 6 — 1 13 
			 Arson with intent to endanger life — 1 1 1 — 3 
			 Assisting an offence — 11 7 — — 18 
			 Attempted Murder — — 12 7 7 26 
			 Attempted Rape (Adult or Minor) — 4 22 2 2 30 
			 Attempting/ perverting the course of justice (incl. threatening jurors/witnesses/tamping with evidence) — 11 3 — — 14 
			 Avoiding Enforcement Action by Deception — 2 — — — 2 
			 Behaviour (Including bomb hoaxes/threats to kill etc) — 5 1 — — 6 
			 Breach of Conditions 4 15 4 — — 23 
			 Breaches Of the Peace (Affray, rioting) — 20 1 — — 21 
			 Burglary (aggravated/breaking and entering) 2 133 26 2 — 163 
			 Conspiracy (defraud/murder/kidnap) — 34 41 — — 75 
			 Conspiracy to Defraud — 1 — — — 1 
			 Copying a False instrument 1 11 — — — 12 
			 Court Offences ( Bail offences, Perjury, Contempt) — 1 1 — — 2 
			 Crimes against a minor (all other not listed) — 5 6 — — 11 
			 Criminal Damage 1 6 3 — — 10 
			 Death by Dangerous Driving  5 8 — — 13 
			 Deception (Pecuniary advantage/Property/Services) 2 89 16 — — 107 
			 Drugs 4 1 10 1 3 19 
			 Drugs—Production 5 1928 228 2 1 2164 
		
	
	
		
			 Drugs—Being knowingly involved in the supply/production of drugs 2 251 174 19 9 455 
			 Drugs—Importation of Controlled Drugs — 65 551 80 19 715 
			 Drugs—with intent to supply 1 225 281 19 7 533 
			 Entry in Breach of a DO — 1 — — — 1 
			 Facilitating Asylum Entry for Gain — — 1 — — 1 
			 Facilitating gaining Leave by Deception — 7 1 — — 8 
			 Facilitating Illegal Entry — 34 13 1 — 48 
			 False imprisonment — 15 15 1 — 31 
			 False Reps to obtain support — 3 1 — — 4 
			 False Statement to get Marriage Licence — 4 — — — 4 
			 False Statement to Register marriage — 3 — — — 3 
			 Firearms (other then Poss/Use Offensive weapon) — 1 2 1 — 4 
			 Forgery — 14 2 — — 16 
			 Fraud/Embezzlement 6 224 62 1 — 293 
			 Handling Stolen Goods — 13 4 — — 17 
			 Illegal Entry — 14 1 — — 15 
			 Indecent Assault — 11 10 1 1 23 
			 Indecent Assault on a Minor — 9 8 — — 17 
			 Kidnapping and attempted  8 17 4 5 34 
			 Making false Statements/Representations 1 13 1 — — 15 
			 Manslaughter — — 20 6 2 28 
			 Money Laundering (drugs criminal and immigration) — 5 4 — — 9 
			 Motoring Offences other 3 14 2 — — 19 
			 Motoring Offences serious — 5 2 — — 7 
			 Murder 1 — 2 2 23 28 
			 Obstruction of an Immigration Officer — 1 — — — 1 
			 Obtaining British Passport by Deception 1 — — — — 1 
			 Offences Against the Person (assault) 2 36 12 — — 50 
			 Offences under Sex Offenders Act  13 5 — — 18 
			 Offences under the Marriage Acts — 3 — — — 3 
			 Overstaying — 1 — — — 1 
			 Possession and or use of False Instrument 12 1176 33 — — 1221 
			 Possession and or use of Offensive Weapon (Firearm Offences) — 7 41 5 2 55 
			 Possession and or use of weapon (Non Firearms) — 6 5 — — 11 
			 Possession/Use of Offensive Weapon 2 14 17 — — 33 
			 Racially Motivated Crime (except attempted/ murder violence) — 1 — — — 1 
			 Rape — 9 202 28 22 261 
			 Rape on a Minor — 5 26 5 1 37 
			 Revenue and Customs case (other than drugs) — — 4 — — 4 
			 Robbery (including street) — 107 123 10 8 248 
			 S2 Failure to Produce a Document at Interview 1 2 — — — 3 
			 Seeking/Obtaining Leave by Deception 1 12 — 1 — 14 
			 Sex Offences against Children not listed Elsewhere 1 52 34 3 4 94 
			 Sex Offences not Listed Elsewhere 3 94 40 3 5 145 
			 Terrorist Offences — 2 3 1 — 6 
			 Theft 8 94 23 — — 125 
			 Trafficking (people/drugs) — 2 2 — — 4 
			 Violent Crime (inc ABH/GBH) 2 160 135 13 11 321 
		
	
	
		
			 Extradition—Offences Not Known 5 — — — — 5 
			 Grand total 78 5,230 2,281 219 133 7,941 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. The UK Borders Act 2007 came into force on 1 August 2008. Consequently, data for calendar year 2008 covers the period from 1 August to 31 December 2008 only.

Deportation: Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department of those foreign nationals who successfully appealed against their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, 
	(1)  what (a) crimes they were found guilty of and (b) length of custodial sentence they had served in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(2)  what (a) offences they were found guilty of and (b) what length of custodial sentence they received in each year since the implementation of the Act.

Mark Harper: The following table shows the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) who were successful in their appeal lodged against section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007.
	
		
			 FNOs who were successful in their appeal lodged against section 32 of UK Borders Act 2007, between 1 August 2008 and 31 December 2012 
			  Length of custodial sentence 
			 Offence type <1 year >=1 year and <3 years >=10 years and <15 years >=3 years and <10 years 15 years+ Total 
			 Alteration/possession of a false document 1 28 1 — 9 39 
			 Armed robbery — — — 1 — 1 
			 Arson — 6 — 5 — 11 
			 Arson with intent to endanger life — — — — 1 1 
			 Assisting an offence 1 6 — 1 — 8 
			 Attempted murder — — 1  — 1 
			 Attempted rape (adult or minor) — — — 1 — 1 
			 Attempting/perverting the course of justice (including threatening jurors/witnesses/tampering with evidence) — 9 — 1 — 10 
			 Behaviour (including bomb hoaxes/threats to kill etc.) — 1 — 1 — 2 
			 Breach of conditions 1 3 — 1 — 5 
			 Breaches of the peace (affray, rioting) — 14 — 2 — 16 
			 Burglary (aggravated/breaking and entering) — 28 — 11 1 40 
			 Conspiracy (defraud/murder/kidnap) — 8 — 9 — 17 
			 Copying a false instrument — 1 — — — 1 
			 Crimes against a minor (all other not listed) — 2 — 1 — 3 
			 Criminal damage — 2 — — — 2 
			 Death by dangerous driving — 1 — 3 — 4 
			 Deception (pecuniary advantage/property/services) 2 19 — 4 3 28 
			 Drugs — — — 1 1 2 
			 Drugs—Production — 24 — 13 — 37 
			 Drugs—Being knowingly involved in the supply/production of drugs 1 46 — 41 — 88 
			 Drugs—Importation of controlled drugs — 11 1 12 1 25 
			 Drugs—With intent to supply 1 71 — 82 — 154 
			 Facilitating gaining leave by deception — 2 — — — 2 
			 Facilitating illegal entry — 3 1 2 1 7 
			 False imprisonment 1 7 — 3 — 11 
			 False reps to obtain support — 1 — — — 1 
			 False statement to get marriage licence — 1 — — — 1 
			 False statement to register marriage — 1 — — — 1 
			 Firearms (other then poss/use offensive weapon) — 2 — — — 2 
		
	
	
		
			 Forgery — — — 1 — 1 
			 Fraud/embezzlement 2 49 — 15 1 67 
			 Handling stolen goods — 8 — 4 — 12 
			 Illegal entry — 2 — — — 2 
			 Indecent assault 1 2 — 2 — 5 
			 Indecent assault on a minor — 4 — 1 — 5 
			 Kidnapping and attempted 1 2 — 1 1 5 
			 Making false statements/representations — 3 — — — 3 
			 Manslaughter — — — 1 — 1 
			 Money laundering (drugs criminal and immigration) — 3 — — — 3 
			 Motoring offences other — 2 — 3 — 5 
			 Motoring offences serious — 2 — 1 — 3 
			 Murder — 1 — — 2 3 
			 Obstruction of an immigration officer — 1 — — — 1 
			 Offences against the person (assault) 1 13 — 2 — 16 
			 Offences under Sex Offenders Act — — — — 1 1 
			 Possession and or use of false instrument 3 200 — 2 24 229 
			 Possession and or use of offensive weapon (firearm offences) — 6 1 9 — 16 
			 Possession and or use of weapon (non firearms) — 2 — — — 2 
			 Possession/use of offensive weapon — 11 — 3 1 15 
			 Racially motivated crime (except attempted/murder violence) — 1 — — — 1 
			 Rape — — 2 10 1 13 
			 Rape on a minor — — — 3 — 3 
			 Revenue and customs case (other than drugs) — — — 1 — 1 
			 Robbery (including street) 1 55 1 54 1 112 
			 Seeking/obtaining leave by deception — 2 1 — — 3 
			 Sex offences against children not listed elsewhere — 5 — 6 — 11 
			 Sex offences not listed elsewhere 2 12 — 7 — 21 
			 Terrorist offences — — — 1 — 1 
			 Theft 1 26 1 3 2 33 
			 Violent crime (including ABH/GBH) 4 77 1 29 4 115 
			 Total 24 786 11 354 55 1,230 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. The UK Borders Act 2007 came into force on 1 August 2008. Consequently, figures relate to the period 1 August 2008 to 31 December 2012.

Deportation: Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department of those foreign nationals deported under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, 
	(1)  how many unsuccessful appeals there were using (a) the European Convention on Human Rights and (b) the Refugee Convention in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(2)  of those foreign nationals deported under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 who unsuccessfully appealed against their deportation using the European Convention on Human Rights, which articles of the Convention were used as part of the appeal in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(3)  of those foreign nationals who successfully appealed against their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, which articles of the European Convention on Human Rights were used as part of the appeal in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(4)  how many foreign nationals deported under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 sought to use Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights to appeal their deportation in each year since the implementation of the Act;
	(5)  how many foreign nationals who successfully appealed against their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 used Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights as part of their appeal in each year since the implementation of the Act.

Mark Harper: In relation to PQ 150388, PQ 150389, and PQ 150391, data on unsuccessful appeals against deportation are held only at the level of co-ordinated paper case files or within the notes section of the Case Information Database (CID). Such data are not aggregated in national reporting systems, which would mean these questions could be answered only through a disproportionately expensive manual case search to collate the data.
	With regard to PQ 150390 and PQ 150392, figures on the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) who successfully appealed against deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007, are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 FNOs who were successful in their appeal lodged against section 32 of UK Borders Act 2007, between 1 August 2008 and 31 December 2012 
			 Number 
			 Grounds of appeal 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total 
			 Human rights—Article 2 and 3 — 12 17 19 4 52 
			 Human rights—Article 3 1 7 8 11 1 28 
			 Human rights—Article 3 and 8 (with or without other articles) — 25 102 128 100 355 
			 Human rights—Article 8 4 144 225 185 151 709 
			 Appeals allowed—Other 3 30 27 9 5 74 
			 EEA Regs — 2 6 3 1 12 
			 Total 8 220 385 355 262 1,230 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. The UK Borders Act 2007 came into force on 1 August 2008. Consequently, data for calendar year 2008 cover the period from 1 August to 31 December 2008 only.

Deportation: Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign nationals (a) were deported and (b) successfully appealed against their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 in each year since the implementation of the Act.

Mark Harper: The following table shows how many foreign national offenders (FNOs)—were deported and successfully appealed against their deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 in each year since 2007.
	
		
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Grand total 
			 FNOs Deported Under Section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 109 1,704 2,324 1,921 1,884 7,942 
			 FNOs successful in their appeal lodged against Section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 8 220 385 355 262 1,230 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. The UK Borders Act 2007 came into force on 1 August 2008. Consequently, data for calendar year 2008 covers the period from 1 August to 31 December 2008 only.

Deportation: Offenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many appeals against deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 were outstanding on 1 January in each of the last six years.

Mark Harper: The following table shows how many appeals against deportation under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 were lodged between 1 August 2008 and 31 December 2012.
	The table also shows the number of appeals still outstanding on 31 December in each calendar year from 2008. The status of cases on 31 December has been provided as the Home Office reports on the requested data at month end in its standard reports.
	
		
			 FNOs appeals lodged against section 32 of UK Borders Act 2007 between 1 August 2008 and 31 December 2012 
			 Year appeal lodged: 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total 
			 No. of appeals lodged: 31 709 856 766 902 3,264 
			 Number of outstanding appeals remaining for each year as of:       
			 31 December 2008 29 — — — — 29 
			 31 December 2009 5 368 — — — 373 
			 31 December 2010 2 52 450 — — 504 
			 31 December 2011 1 20 56 370 — 447 
			 31 December 2012 — 5 15 57 522 599 
			 Notes: 1. All figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. The UK Borders Act 2007 came into force on 1 August 2008. Consequently, data for calendar year 2008 cover the period from 1 August to 31 December 2008 only.

Driving Offences: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty notices were issued to motorists in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber in 2011.

Damian Green: Data on FPNs for motoring offences issued by the police are published in the National Statistics series ‘Police Powers and Procedures’. The latest internet-only release published on 18 April 2013 is available in the Library of the House and from the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-powers-and-procedures-in-england-and-wales-201112
	Police issued 151,308 FPNs for motoring offences in the Yorkshire and the Humber Region in 2011.
	The Home Office does not centrally collect data on fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued at constituency level.

Driving under Influence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have had breathalyser tests administered to them by police officers in each of the last five years; and how many such people failed the test in each such year.

Damian Green: Available data relate to the number of roadside breath tests carried out by police and the number positive or refused between 2007 and 2011, and are published in table BT.01 within the National Statistics series ‘Police Powers and Procedures’.
	The latest internet-only release published on 18 April 2013 is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/police-powers-and-procedures-in-england-and-wales-201112

Drugs: Wales

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what grants were offered to each organisation in the South Wales Police Force area which received funds from the Drug Testing Grant during (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2011-12.

Jeremy Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 March 2013, Official Report, columns 412-16W. The Drug Testing Grant was paid solely to South Wales police. The grant funding was (a) £353,691 in 2012-13 and (b) £372,306 in 2011-12.

Emergencies

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what funding her Department provides for the running of local resilience forums;
	(2)  what recent assessment she has made of the Local Resilience Board; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what arrangements are in place to assess police involvement with local resilience forums.

Damian Green: The Home Office does not provide funding for the running of local resilience forums. The Department has made no assessment of local resilience forums.

Human Trafficking

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1147W, on human trafficking, if she will list the Government Departments and agencies involved in work to combat human trafficking; and how much each department and agency spent on such work in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Mark Harper: The inter-departmental ministerial group report on human trafficking includes details of the departments and agencies working to combat human trafficking. Expenditure by each Department and agency on work to combat human trafficking is not recorded separately or centrally.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what checks are in place to ensure that pensioners in the UK who are EU nationals have (a) comprehensive health cover and (b) sufficient income to live without needing income support before being allowed to enter or remain resident in the UK.

Mark Harper: All EU nationals, including pensioners, have a right of admission and residence in the UK for an initial period of three months.
	An EU national who remains in the UK beyond the initial period of three months as a self-sufficient person (which would apply to pensioners) is required to hold comprehensive sickness insurance and sufficient resources to prevent themselves and any family members from becoming an unreasonable burden on the social assistance system of the UK.
	In such cases, strict checks are made to ensure that the requirements set out in the regulations are met. It is not desirable to state the exact nature of these checks as such disclosure may enable immigration offenders to circumvent our chocking processes and prejudice the operation and integrity of our immigration controls, but these include checks on whether the EU national is exercising free movement rights in the UK.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she intends to reply to the letter to the Minister for Immigration dated 5 March 2013 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr S. Ullah.

Mark Harper: I wrote to the right hon. Member on 16 April 2013.

Overseas Students: Fees and Charges

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress her Department has made towards establishing a fees structure for higher education institutions accessing the Account Management Service.

Mark Harper: The fee for higher education institutions to access the premium service for Tier 4 sponsors from 1 July 2013 is £8,000.
	This fee was set out in the Fees Regulations for 2013 which were approved by Parliament and published on 6 April.

Pay

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what salary the director general of the (a) visas and immigration and (b) immigration law enforcement commands will receive.

Mark Harper: holding answer 17 April 2013
	The salary paid to the Director UK Visas and Immigration and the Director General of Immigration Enforcement will be set within the Senior Civil Service Pay Band 3 range.

Police: Corruption

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what obligations there are on police authorities and their legal representatives to respond to serious allegations of corruption against certain individuals within that police force.

Damian Green: Police authorities were replaced on 22 November 2012 by elected police and crime commissioners (PCCs).
	For each police force, the PCC is the appropriate authority for handling serious allegations of corruption against the chief constable. The chief constable is the appropriate authority in relation to serious allegations of corruption against all other members of the force, but the PCC is required to remain informed of such allegations and has the power to direct the chief constable to comply with his or her legal obligations in dealing with them.
	The duties of the appropriate authority are set out in Part 2 of the Police Reform Act 2002 and the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2012, which include provision for the recording, reference to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, and investigation of allegations, as well as for reference of the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions where appropriate. The Police (Conduct) Regulations 2012 make provision for the taking of disciplinary action, in addition to any criminal proceedings that may result.

Police: Foreign Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many foreign police officers are operating in the UK, by country of origin; and who holds that information.

Damian Green: The requested information is not collected by the Home Office.

Police: ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many online crime reports have been submitted at www.actionfraud.police.uk.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 22 April 2013
	Action Fraud is the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and internet crime. It takes fraud and information about fraud reports on behalf of the police, and passes these to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau based at City of London police.
	Over the last three months (January to March 2013) there have been 27,665 reports of on-line crime made to Action Fraud.

Public Appointments

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the directoral salaries of the (a) Immigration and Visa Service and (b) Law Enforcement Agency are planned to be; and when such appointments will be made.

Mark Harper: holding answer 18 April 2013
	The salary paid to the Director General of UK Visas and Immigration and the Director General of Immigration Enforcement will be set within the Senior Civil Service Pay Band 3 range. We have made interim appointments to both roles and will make permanent appointments in the summer.

Sexual Offences: Victim Support Schemes

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the announcement by the Director of Public Prosecutions that the Crown Prosecution Service will be re-opening historic sexual abuse cases, what plans she has to increase funding for independent sexual violence advisers.

Jeremy Browne: The Home Office currently provides £1.72 million per year to part-fund 87 independent sexual violence adviser posts across England and Wales. This level of funding will continue to 2015.
	The Government are committed to ensuring that victims of these heinous crimes have access to the support they need. In February, the Ministry of Justice announced it will continue to fund rape support centres until 2015, giving existing centres a stable financial future and allowing new centres to be established.

CABINET OFFICE

Baroness Thatcher

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what reason his Department rather than the Department for Culture, Media and Sport organised the funeral of Baroness Thatcher.

Francis Maude: The preparations for the funeral of Baroness Thatcher began under a previous Government. The Cabinet Office performed its usual central/co-ordinating role.

Crime

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many offences of (a) domestic violence, (b) rape, (c) other serious sexual violence and (d) hate crime were committed in England (i) in total and (ii) by region in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Secretary of State of the Home Department for the number of offences of (a) domestic violence, (b) rape, (c) other serious sexual violence and (d) hate crime committed in England (i) in total and (ii) by region in (A) 2011-12 and (B) 2012-13. (153069)
	The information provided in the table is sourced from incidents reported to and recorded by the police and thus will not include all crimes committed under the categories asked. ‘Domestic violence’ is not in itself a separate legal offence and thus does not form part of the notifiable offence list that is reported within the National Statistics on crime.
	Cases of ‘domestic violence’ will be incorporated within the relevant category of offence in accordance with the intent of the offence and any injuries sustained, such as ‘inflicting grievous bodily harm (GBH)’ or ‘less serious wounding’ for example. It is not possible to separately identify within all possible categories which cases would fall under the heading ‘domestic violence’. However, there are published statistics sourced from a separate collection which provides counts of recorded incidents of domestic abuse, but not all of these will necessarily be subsequently recorded by the police as notifiable offences.
	Similarly, ‘hate crimes’ are generally not in themselves recorded as separate notifiable offences except where they are defined by statute, for example racially or religiously aggravated harassment. It is possible though to separately identify any notifiable offence committed against a person or property that is motivated by hostility towards someone based on their disability, race, religion, gender-identity or sexual orientation, whether perceived to be so by the victim or any other person. However, it should be noted that more than one form of hate crime can be assigned to an offence.
	The table provides the number of domestic abuse incidents, rape and other serious sexual offences, and hate crimes recorded by the police in 2011/12 in England, by region. Data for 2012/13 are due to be published for the first time in July 2013, so these are not currently available.
	
		
			   Serious sexual offences 
			 Region Domestic abuse incidents(1) Rape Other serious sexual Hate crimes(2) 
			 North East 55,619 632 1,158 1,272 
			 North West 120,080 1,929 3,414 6,574 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 85,154 1,390 2,315 3,225 
			 East Midlands 58,161 1,234 2,137 3,177 
			 West Midlands 70,922 1,576 2,981 4,589 
			 East of England 76,368 1,526 2,597 3,458 
			 London 118,169 3,335 5,078 10,085 
			 South East 107,917 2,024 4,072 4,861 
			 South West 52,715 1,598 2,702 3,146 
			      
			 England(3) 745,105 15,244 26,454 40,387 
			 (1) Domestic abuse incidents are defined as any incidence of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults, aged 18 and over, w ho are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality. (2) Hate crimes are taken to mean any crime where the perpetrator's hostility or prejudice against an identifiable group of people is a factor in determining who is victimised. Note that the figures relate to the five monitored strands of hate crime classifications used by the criminal justice system (race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender) and are not a count of crime as more than one form of hate crime can be assigned to an offence. (3) Excludes British Transport Police. Sources: Police incident data, Home Office /Police recorded crime, Home Office

Suicide

Pamela Nash: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many suicides were recorded in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK in each year between 1987 and 1994.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many suicides were recorded in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK in each year between 1987 and 1994.
	Table 1 provides the number of deaths where the underlying cause was suicide in England, Wales, Scotland and the United Kingdom, for deaths registered between 1987 and 1994.
	Figures presented in Table 1 are for deaths registered rather than deaths that occurred in each calendar year. In England and Wales all suicides are certified by a coroner following an inquest. The death cannot be registered until the inquest is completed, which can take many months or even years. ONS is not notified that a death has occurred until it is registered, unless the coroner adjourns an inquest while awaiting prosecution in a higher court. The latest statistical bulletin showed that the median registration delay for suicides was 158 days in England and Wales in 2011.
	In Scotland a death must be registered within eight days. The Procurator Fiscal has a duty to investigate all sudden, suspicious, accidental, unexpected or unexplained deaths and any death occurring in circumstances that give rise to serious public concern, and a Fatal Accident Inquiry may follow. If the results of toxicological tests or a post mortem are not yet known, the cause of death can be given as “unascertained, pending investigations”, and the actual cause of death will be entered at a later date. Therefore National Records of Scotland (NRS) receive notification of suicides more quickly than ONS. In-2011 the average registration delay for suicides in Scotland was just seven days, although the death may not have been registered as a suicide initially.
	Figures for suicides in the United Kingdom, England and Wales for deaths registered between 1981 and 2011 are published annually on the ONS website. The latest statistical bulletin also includes analysis of the impact of registration delays on UK suicide statistics:
	www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/all-releases.html?definition=tcm%3A77-29400
	Figures for suicides in Scotland for deaths registered between 1974 and 2011 are available from the General Register Office for Scotland's website:
	http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-events/deaths/suicides/index.html
	Figures for suicides in Northern Ireland for deaths registered between 1970 and 2011 are available from the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency website:
	http://www.nisra.gov.uk/demography/default.asp31.htm
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of deaths where suicide was the underlying cause of death, England, Wales, Scotland and the United Kingdom, deaths registered between 1987 and 1994(1, 2, 3, 4, 5) 
			 Suicides (Persons) 
			 Registration year England Wales Scotland United Kingdom 
			 1987 5,181 322 708 6,349 
			 1988 5,568 321 774 6,867 
			 1989 5,009 264 718 6,150 
			 1990 5,191 297 749 6,437 
			 1991 5,109 320 706 6,317 
			 1992 5,088 347 793 6,378 
			 1993 4,851 290 912 6,212 
			 1994 4,713 320 834 6,045 
			 (1) Suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision (ICD-9J codes E950-E959 (Suicide and self-inflicted injury) and codes E980-E989 (injury undetermined whether accidentally or purposely inflicted). Deaths were included where one of these codes was the underlying cause of death. Figures for England and Wales exclude ICD-9 code E9S8.8 where the coroner's verdict was pending. (2) Figures are for persons aged 15 years and over. (3) Figures for England. Wales and Scotland exclude deaths of non-residents. Figures for the United Kingdom include deaths of non-residents. (4) Figures arc for deaths registered rather than deaths occurring between 1987 and 1994. (5) Further information on registration delays for suicides is available in the annual statistical bulletin on suicides in the UK: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-health4/suicides-in-the-united-kingdom/index.html

Youth Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office which youth projects have been funded by the Nesta Impact Investment Fund to date.

Nick Hurd: Nesta Impact Investments is a social investment fund that is independent from Government. More information about the fund and its investments can be found on Nesta's website:
	http://www.nesta.org.uk/press_releases/assets/features/nesta_launches_25m_impact_investment_fund

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Business: Ethnic Groups

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many working hours officials in his Department spent in connection with its review of barriers faced by some black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in accessing business finance;
	(2)  how much his Department has spent producing its draft review of barriers faced by some black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in accessing business finance;
	(3)  what consideration he has given to his Department's draft review completed prior to 19 April 2012 of barriers faced by some black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in accessing business finance; and if he will make a statement.

Don Foster: The Deputy Prime Minister commissioned the Department for Communities and Local Government to lead a cross-Government review of the barriers being faced by ethnic minority businesses in accessing finance in November 2011.
	DCLG have been working closely with other Government Departments, the banking sector and ethnic minority business groups to conclude the review. A report into the review will be published shortly.
	Apart from staff resource, no public funds have been committed to this review. No record is kept of staff time.

Empty Property: Shops

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how groups such as the Lifford Business Association could bid for the High Street Fund if they did not receive any of the funding allocated through their local authority.

Mark Prisk: I refer the hon. Member to my answer today to PQs 151216, 151217 and 151218. In March 2012 DCLG issued the High Street Innovation Fund to the 100 designated local authorities and it is up to them how to distribute the money in their areas. In October 2012 Government also provided funding to councils to support the work of Town Team Partners. As part of that initiative, Birmingham city council were in receipt of £10,000 as the accountable body for Lifford Business Association, who were one of the 333 town teams who registered to become a Town Team Partner. I advise the town team to speak to their council if they have not received this funding.

Homelessness: Ashfield

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people were homeless in Ashfield constituency in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Prisk: The following table shows both the (i) number of homelessness acceptances of households and (ii) the number of households in temporary accommodation for the local authorities of Ashfield and Broxtowe for the most recent period for which figures are available:
	
		
			  Number of householdsaccepted(1 )as owed a main homelessness duty during the quarter October to December 2012 Number of households in temporary accommodation(2), as at 31 December 2012 
			 Ashfield 4 8 
			 Broxtowe 2 3 
			 (1) Households eligible under homelessness legislation, found to be unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category, and consequently owed a main homelessness duty. (2) Households who have been accepted as owed the main homelessness duty, those pending inquiries or review, and those who were found to be intentionally homeless but are being accommodated for a reasonable period by the LA. Source: DCLG P1E Homelessness returns (quarterly) 
		
	
	The Ashfield constituency comprises parts of the areas of Ashfield district council and Broxtowe borough council. Figures are therefore given in the table for both of these local authorities, although part of the area of Ashfield district council is in the Sherwood constituency, and part of the area of Broxtowe borough council is in the Broxtowe constituency.
	We are investing £470 million over the spending review period to tackle homelessness. We have also invested an additional £1.7 million over two years (2012-13 to 2013-14 in a new scheme to support local authorities to deliver a ‘Gold Standard’ homelessness prevention service to stem future increases in statutory homelessness and rough sleeping.

Local Government Services: Armed Forces

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what additional funding he plans to provide for local authority services as a result of the return of British forces and their families from Germany.

Brandon Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence announced on 5 March 2013 the Regular Army Basing Plan and the return of troops from Germany, detailing the Government's intention to invest £1 billion in accommodation for returning members of the armed forces.
	Councils will retain all the yearly council tax revenue raised from new, existing and refurbished dwellings. Military housing also qualifies for the New Homes Bonus, so councils would receive this further funding stream on top for additional dwellings. Non-residential military buildings are liable for business rates, so councils would also benefit from any new hereditaments under the local retention of business rates.

Planning Permission: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homeowner planning applications were (a) approved and (b) rejected in Barnsley Central constituency in 2012; and how many such applications were approved or rejected at (i) officer and (ii) plans sub-committee level.

Nicholas Boles: In the year to December 2012, there were 424 approved and 38 refused applications for householder development in the metropolitan borough of Barnsley.
	No information is available on the number of such applications approved or rejected at officer or sub-committee level.
	This approval rate of 92% illustrates the scope for reforms of the householder planning process, to take uncontroversial, small-scale applications for home improvements out of the full planning system.

Theft: Crime Prevention

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what funding his Department provides to parish councils for work with businesses on preventing acquisitive crime.

Brandon Lewis: My Department does not provide funding to town and parish councils.

Urban Areas: Regeneration

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps he has taken to ensure that the High Street Innovation Fund is used to support high streets and not absorbed into local authority budgets;
	(2)  what support his Department provides to local authorities on the best use of High Street Innovation funds;
	(3)  how much of the High Street Innovation Fund has been allocated; and how much of this fund is classified as underspend.

Mark Prisk: The Government are committed to help revive the nation's town centres and as part of their response to the Portas review have given £10 million to 100 local authorities in England to support their efforts to bring empty properties back into use and rejuvenate their high streets. The High Street Innovation Fund was allocated to local authorities with a high number of empty properties and to those affected by the riots. Local authorities were encouraged to use this fund to leverage further financial support and to use a wide range of tools to revitalise their high street, including increasing business rate discounts, simplifying planning rules and working with landlords to support new occupiers.
	No central data are collected on the use of the High Street Innovation Fund reflecting the fact that this Government is committed to reducing top-down reporting burdens on local government; we would encourage the spread of best practice, especially at the local government level.
	Each of the recipients has also been offered support from the Association of Town and City Management as part of the Government's wider support for the high street and its response to the Portas review of the Future of the High Street.
	Manchester city council has spent the fund engaging with businesses, landlords and individuals or organisations wishing to move onto the high street. They are currently focusing on delivering three exemplar projects, each of which is to be supported with £20,000.
	Ashfield has used the fund on greater use of “meanwhile use” grants to enable local artists, community groups and charities to take up empty shops, and supporting their local markets and traders.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on conglomerates and other organisations paying monies to farmers or smallholders to apply for outline planning permission for windfarms on their land.

Nicholas Boles: A payment between a business, or other organisation, and a land owner is a commercial matter for them, and sits outside the planning system.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Business: Ethnic Groups

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what meetings he has had with ministerial colleagues and officials between November 2011 and March 2013 concerning the Government's review of barriers faced by some black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs in accessing business finance.

Nicholas Clegg: I have had a number of meetings with ministerial colleagues and officials between November 2011 and March 2013 concerning a range of equalities issues.

Electoral Register

David Crausby: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the cost to local authorities of (a) implementing individual electoral registration and (b) the requirement for electoral registration officers to write to potentially eligible and unregistered persons inviting them to register;
	(2)  what additional resources will be given by his Department to local authorities for implementation of individual electoral registration.

Chloe Smith: The Government are committed to meeting all additional costs arising from individual electoral registration and I have recently written to all local authority chief executives outlining their allocation for 2013-14 and the next steps towards issuing the more substantial 2014-15 allocations.
	The estimated costs of implementing individual electoral registration, including the cost of inviting all eligible and unregistered persons to register, are outlined in the impact assessment accompanying the Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 which can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/61328/IER-lmpact-Assessment-090512.pdf

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost to his Department was of improving infrastructure in Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2012; and how much such spending was claimed against the UK's overseas development assistance target.

Andrew Robathan: In 2012 the Ministry of Defence spent £23.3 million on infrastructure in Afghanistan. This figure incorporates all building works carried out on the UK military bases in Helmand Province. As net additional costs of UK military operations in Afghanistan, these costs were resourced by the Treasury reserve.
	In addition £203,000 was spent from the Commander's Stabilisation Fund on improving the infrastructure in local communities in Helmand Province. The Commander's Stabilisation Fund is funded by the Conflict Pool. We will consider whether these costs could be counted as overseas development assistance (ODA) as part of the Conflict Pool and departmental ODA return for 2012.

Afghanistan

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of Operation Oqab Tsuka; and how much such spending was claimable against the UK's overseas development assistance commitment.

Andrew Robathan: Operation Oqab Tsuka was conducted under the previous administration using armed forces personnel and resources already in Afghanistan. As such the additional costs incurred in undertaking this specific operation as part of the wider Operation HERRICK are not held in the format requested. The costs of this operation were not counted as official development assistance activities.

Afghanistan

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost was of training the Afghan police forces in 2012.

Andrew Robathan: The total cost of training the Afghan National Police in 2012 is a matter for the Government of Afghanistan. The NATO Training Mission—Afghanistan (NTM-A), supports the Government of Afghanistan in generating and sustaining the Afghan National Security Forces, including the Afghan National Police. It had a total budget of $11.2 billion last year. In 2012, the Law and Order Trust Fund, which supports the payment of Afghan National Police salaries, had a total commitment of around £600 million with the UK contributing £10.5 million.
	The UK channels its direct support for the Afghan National Police through a number of different avenues, predominately multilateral missions. In 2012, the provision of senior and specialist advisors to the EU Police Training Mission to Afghanistan totalled 16 police officers in key positions. We also provided three senior civilian police advisors and 11 military personnel to the NTM-A's policing arm, alongside numerous police advisory teams whose numbers fluctuated throughout the year.
	Today there are 64 military personnel working in Lashkar Gah Training Centre, formerly known as the Helmand Police Training Centre, and 105 UK personnel working in a police advisory function at ANP district/provincial command centres.

Afghanistan

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the suitability of the Glock 17 Gen 4 pistol for prevailing conditions in Helmand province.

Andrew Robathan: The Glock 17 Gen 4 pistol has been selected as the new standard issue sidearm for the armed forces. During the procurement process the pistol was rigorously trialled in a range of extreme climates and environmental conditions to ensure its suitability for service anywhere in the world. Deliveries to Afghanistan will commence this summer.

Armed Forces: Absent Voting

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to review the arrangements for allowing serving personnel stationed away from home to vote in elections.

Mark Francois: The Government are committed to members of the armed forces being able to take their full part in the democratic process, in accordance with the armed forces covenant.
	The Electoral Registration and Administration Act 2013 has provisions that will better support military personnel overseas to have their postal ballots included in the count. However we still encourage service personnel overseas to vote by proxy as a preference.

Armed Forces: Housing

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the occupied UK service family accommodation estate was below Standard 2 for condition in March 2013.

Mark Francois: holding answer 22 April 2013
	Of those Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties assessed for their Standard for Condition (SfC), the following were at each SfC in March of this and previous three years:
	
		
			  Properties at: 
			  S1fC S2fC S3fC S4fC 
			 2013 22,868 23,931 673 79 
			 2012 21,131 24,822 987 183 
			 2011 21,848 24,023 1,171 207 
			 2010 14,042 19,270 1,026 201 
		
	
	SFA properties at S3fC and S4fC are no longer allocated to service families and all remaining SFA at S3fC and S4fC are either in the process of being upgraded to S2fC as a minimum, or are awaiting disposal.

Armed Forces: Housing

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of single living accommodation bed-spaces for trained personnel was Grade 1 standard in March 2013.

Mark Francois: holding answer 22 April 2013
	With the exception of 2011, a worldwide audit of the Grade for Condition and Scale (GfC&S) of Single Living Accommodation (SLA) has been undertaken in each of the last four years, the last being in March 2012. These showed that the following numbers of SLA bed-spaces were at each GfC&S:
	
		
			  Bed-spaces at: 
			  G1fC&S G2fC&S G3fC&S G4fC&S 
			 2012 38,695 16,609 24,789 46,903 
			 2010 38,188 15,187 21,857 53,469 
			 2009 35,556 16,669 21,141 56,595

Armed Forces: Postal Services

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has paid to Royal Mail for managing postal services for the armed forces in each of the last five years.

Philip Dunne: The British Forces Post Office (BFPO) provides a mail service to serving armed forces personnel and their families worldwide, including on exercises and operations. It operates as an extension of the UK's domestic mail system.
	Payments made by BFPO to the Royal Mail Group for official mail services in support of the Ministry of Defence over the last five financial years are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Parcelforce 0.39 0.32 0.37 0.45 0.46 
			 Royal Mail 0.58 0.51 0.56 0.57 0.77 
			 Total 0.97 0.83 0.93 1,02 1.23 
			       
			 EFFMSC(1) — 1.58 2.78 2.88 2.88 
			 (1) The Enduring Families Free Mail Service, introduced in 2009-10, enables families and friends to send packages from the UK weighing up to two kilograms free of charge, to armed forces personnel deployed on specified active operations, such as Afghanistan. The cost of EFFMS is met from HMT Special Reserve.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many recruits to the (a) Army, (b) infantry, (c) Royal Navy and (d) Royal Air Force were aged 16 at enlistment in each year since 2010-11.

Mark Francois: The number of recruits to the Naval Service, Army, Infantry and Royal Air Force who were aged 16 at enlistment in each year financial year (FY) from 2010-11 to 28 February 2013 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Financial year 
			 Service 1 Apr 2010 to 31 Mar 2011 1 Apr 2011 to 31 Mar 2012 1 Apr 2012 to 28 Feb 2013 
			 Naval Service 50 10 20 
			 Army 1,290 1,370 620 
			 of which:    
			 Infantry 610 580 250 
			 Royal Air Force 10 10 10 
			 Note: Data have been rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers ending in ‘5’ have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 14 January 2013, Official Report, column 596W, on armed forces: sexual offences, if he will consider amending sections 156 and 157 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 and the Armed Forces (Court Martial) Rules 2009 to include provision in relation to the gender composition of court martial juries in cases of (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) sexual assault by penetration; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: The Armed Forces Act 2006 permits women officers and warrant officers to sit as lay members of the court martial on the same basis as men. For a particular court martial, the individual members are chosen on an essentially random basis by the court administration officer for the court martial. Under rule 35 of the Armed Forces, Court Martial Rules, 2009, either party to proceedings, the defence or the prosecution, may object to any lay member of the court on any reasonable ground. These provisions broadly reflect those which apply to juries in the civilian Crown court and Ministry of Defence policy is to maintain that consistency. Accordingly, I do not currently propose to reconsider our provisions.

Armed Forces: Training

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he is taking to increase the provision of training for assisting officers; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Francois: There is no specific training for assisting officers. The duties and responsibilities of assisting officers are set out in detail at annexes F and G of volume 1 of chapter 9 of the Manual of Service Law (JSP 830). A copy of this document is available at the following link:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessement he has made of the effectiveness of the Foxhound vehicle (a) in each climate and (b) on each terrain.

Andrew Robathan: The Foxhound vehicle has been subject to a number of tests and assessments using simulated environments, such as climatic chambers and test tracks in the UK, comparable with the climate and terrain in the UK, Europe and Afghanistan. Trials were also conducted on test tracks in Afghanistan. The Foxhound vehicle has since successfully deployed to Afghanistan and continues to be a reliable and effective platform in this theatre of operations.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Foxhound vehicles are in service in the Army.

Andrew Robathan: As at April 2013 196 Foxhound vehicles are in service in the Army.

Army: Qualifications

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what qualifications are available within two years to those who join the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force at 16;
	(2)  what (a) literacy and (b) numeracy training is required for those who join the (i) Army, (ii) Royal Navy and (iii) Royal Air Force aged 16 years within two years of joining;
	(3)  how many individuals serving in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force who joined at 16 years do not currently have (i) Level 1 or (ii) Level 2 qualifications in numeracy and literacy;
	(4)  what proportion of those who joined the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force at 16 years old in the last three years did not have literacy and numeracy training to (i) Level 1, (ii) Level 2 and (iii) Level 3;
	(5)  what literacy and numeracy training is mandated in the first two years of service of those who join the (a) Army, (b) Navy and (c) RAF at 16 years old;
	(6)  how many 17-year-olds in the Armed Forces do not have any formal qualifications.

Mark Francois: holding answer 18 April 2013
	Within their first two years of service, personnel enlisted in the armed forces aged 16 will usually have completed phase 1 and phase 2 training and joined the trained strength. All recruits enlisted under 18 who do not hold full level 3 qualifications are enrolled on an apprenticeship scheme unless their trade training attracts higher level qualifications. The qualifications available range from intermediate-level apprenticeships to degrees, depending on the trade specialisation of the individual. In addition, serving members of the armed forces can complete elective learning that results in nationally recognised qualifications.
	The services aim to improve the English and Maths functional skills abilities of all their recruits by at least one national level, and to a minimum of entry level 3 prior to the start of phase 2 training. There are no mandated requirements for the first two years of service. However, all personnel (including those enlisted aged 16) are expected to be qualified to at least level 1 in literacy and numeracy within three years of joining and at level 2 within eight years.
	Data are not available on the total numbers of personnel in each service holding literacy and numeracy qualifications at levels 1 and 2, and those who enlist at age 16 are not tracked as a separate group.
	The Ministry of Defence does not track 17-year-olds as a separate group and therefore information is not available on those who do not hold formal qualifications.

Army: Redundancy

Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1010W, on Army: redundancy, whether figures given in that answer are in real terms.

Mark Francois: The Government Actuary's estimates are in real terms.

British Overseas Territories

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian and military personnel from his Department are based in (a) Anguilla, (b) Bermuda, (c) British Antarctic Territory, (d) British Indian Ocean Territory, (e) British Virgin Islands, (f) Cayman Islands, (g) Falkland Islands, (h) Gibraltar, (i) Montserrat, (j) Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, (k) St Helena and St Helena Dependencies (Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), (l) South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, (m) Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia and (n) the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Andrew Robathan: The military and civilian personnel based in the Overseas Territories in March 2013 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Overseas Territories Military personnel Civilian personnel 
			 British Indian Ocean Territory 41 0 
			 Falkland Islands 1,050 47 
			 Gibraltar 420 580 
			 Ascension Island 28 0 
			 British Forces Cyprus including Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia 2,750 1,650 
		
	
	The civilian personnel figure includes locally employed civilian personnel.
	The military figures may vary from published statistics as personnel change location or are deployed on operations. Figures above 100 have been rounded down to the nearest 10.
	There are no military and or Ministry of Defence civilian personnel serving in the following regions Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Antarctic Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn; Henderson; Ducie and Oeno Islands, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia South Sandwich Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands.

Defence: Procurement

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2013, Official Report, column 644W, on defence: procurement, if he will list those projects which are funded on an entirely (a) committed and (b) uncommitted basis.

Andrew Robathan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr Dunne), on 19 March 2013, Official Report, column 644W.
	The £159 billion, 10-year Equipment Plan published in January this year, contains funding for specific risks to project delivery totalling £8.4 billion over the decade. For the first time, it also contains £4.8 billion of contingency funding.
	In addition, there is around £8 billion of headroom in the Equipment Plan which is not currently allocated to projects within the core programme.

Electronic Warfare

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to his Department was of measures to protect military assets from cyber attacks in each of the last five years.

Andrew Robathan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 March 2013, Official Report, column 223W, to the right hon. Member for Coventry North East (Mr Ainsworth).

Electronic Warfare

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the UK's ability to defend against cyber attacks on military assets.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence reviews regularly the cyber threats to military assets drawing on a wide range of intelligence. We ensure that such threats are considered fully in the design and use of information systems and in contingency planning for operations. Information on these assessments, and the steps we take to secure our systems, is being withheld for the purpose of safeguarding national security.

France

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their French counterparts on the effect of reductions in defence budgets on the UK-French bilateral relationship.

Andrew Robathan: Defence Ministers regularly discuss Franco-British co-operation with our French counterparts and we have been kept in close touch with the development of the French strategic defence review, the Livre Blanc, and its potential implications. In addition, our ambassador in France has been a member of the Livre Blanc Commission and has been able to contribute to the development of the review.

Haiti

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of Operation PANLAKE was; and how much of this cost was claimable against the UK's overseas development assistance commitment.

Andrew Robathan: The marginal cost recorded for the Defence disaster relief response to Haiti in 2010 under Operation PANLAKE was £620,000. These costs were subsequently recovered from the Department for International Development (DFID). As the lead Government Department for humanitarian operations, DFID reports Overseas Development Assistance-eligible activity rather than the Ministry of Defence.

Mali

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse has been of UK support for military intervention in Mali to date.

Andrew Robathan: We are refining our estimate of the cost of this continuing operation. The costs for the financial year 2012-13 will be set out in the MOD's Annual Report and Accounts for that year, which we will publish in the summer.

Military Bases: Scotland

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 25 March 2013, Official Report column 937W, on RAF Leuchars, if he will place in the Library (a) the sustainability appraisal for the development of the estate at RAF Lossiemouth, (b) the sustainability appraisal for the delivery of an Adaptable Force Brigade Scotland, (c) the updated sustainability appraisal for the Base Optimisation Programme in Scotland and (d) the updated sustainable development action plan for the overarching Base Optimisation Programme.

Andrew Robathan: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 17 April 2013, Official Report, column 413W.

RAF Fylingdales

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect on RAF Fylingdale's work of (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines.

Mark Francois: No formal assessments on the effects of wind turbines, onshore and offshore, on RAF Fylingdales' radar have yet been carried out.

RAF Lossiemouth

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what recent estimate he has made of the cost of capital works to relocate RAF Leuchars' current parented units to RAF Lossiemouth;
	(2)  what recent estimate he has made of the total cost of Typhoon-related capital works at RAF Lossiemouth.

Andrew Robathan: The estimated total cost of all Typhoon-related capital works at RAF Lossiemouth is some £85 million. This figure includes the work required to enable the move of two Typhoon squadrons from RAF Leuchars.

RAF Lossiemouth

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what current estimate has been made of the cost of the move of (a) personnel, (b) stores and equipment and (c) communications and information systems from RAF Leuchars to RAF Lossiemouth in relation to the transfer of the Typhoon Force.

Andrew Robathan: The current estimate of the move of personnel, stores and equipment and communications and information systems from RAF Leuchars to RAF Lossiemouth in relation to the transfer of the Typhoon Force is £13 million.
	As we prepare for the implementation phase of the Army Basing plan, further detailed work will be carried out to refine the infrastructure requirement.

USA

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the recent statement by Rear Admiral Barry Bruner, Director of the Undersea Warfare Division of the US Navy, that that navy needs 12 operational ballistic missile submarines to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent.

Andrew Robathan: This is a matter for the US Government.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what he plans to provide a substantive answer to Questions 149886 and 149887 tabled on 22 March 2013 for named day answer on 25 March 2013; and what the reason is for the time taken to answer those questions.

Mark Francois: I answered my hon. Friend today.

TREASURY

Commodity Markets: Tax Yields

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value is of tax revenue raised from commodity trading; and what steps he plans to take to increase any such revenue.

Sajid Javid: The information requested is not available.

Corporation Tax

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies based in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland paid corporation tax at the (i) main, (ii) small profits and (iii) marginal rate in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Gauke: The answer is given in terms of the number of companies registered in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who had liabilities for corporation tax in the financial year 2010-11. This may be different from the location where the companies' activity takes place. This is the latest information available.
	
		
			 Corporation tax liabilities by tax rate for accounting periods ending in 2010-11 
			  Number of companies to the nearest hundred 
			  Small Profits Rate Marginal Rate Main Rate 
			 England 753,500 36,400 36,000 
			 Wales 24,700 1,100 600 
			 Scotland 51,400 2,500 2,200 
			 Northern Ireland 9,400 800 500 
			 Not known 1,500 100 400 
			 UK 840,500 40,800 39,700 
			 Small Profits Rate = 21% and Main Rate = 28% Notes: 1. For the purpose of allocating a company to England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, the postcode of the company's registered office has been used. This may not relate to where all of a company's activity takes place. It will also not reflect all companies that carry on activities in those countries. Figures in 'Not known' category relate to companies based in the UK but where it is not possible to link their address to a specific country using the postcode information held. 2. For the purpose of this analysis, HMRC define the terms as follows: a. CT liabilities are considered to be accrued in the financial year of the end date of the company's accounting period. b. Small Profits Rate: Since April 2010, the lower rate of corporation tax has been called the Small Profits Rate (SPR) rather than Small Companies' Rate (SCR). This makes clear that it is the size of the profits, rather than the size of the company, which determines the tax rate to be applied. c. Marginal Relief: This can be claimed by companies with taxable profits between the lower and upper limits, to enable a smooth transition between the small profits rate and the main rate of CT. d. Main Rate: The rate of corporation tax paid by companies with profits above the lower limit. Companies with profits between the lower and upper limit are taxed at main rate but can usually claim Marginal Relief. 3. Figures are based on companies only and exclude unincorporated businesses. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

Minimum Wage

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1468, on minimum wage: evasion, on how many occasions in each of the last five years HM Revenue and Customs has required an employer to pay arrears following failure to pay the minimum wage;
	(2)  pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1468, on minimum wage: evasion, on how many occasions in each of the last five years HM Revenue and Customs has referred the case of an employer suspected of evading the minimum wage to the Crown Prosecution Service for a charging decision;
	(3)  pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1468, on minimum wage: evasion, on how many occasions in each of the last five years HM Revenue and Customs has inspected an employer for evasion of the minimum wage;
	(4)  pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead of 26 March 2013, Official Report, column 1468, on minimum wage: evasion, on how many occasions in each of the last five years HM Revenue and Customs has imposed civil penalties on an employer for evasion of the minimum wage.

David Gauke: The number of non-compliant employers identified by HMRC for the period requested is in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Non-compliant employers 
			 2008-09 1,746 
			 2009-10 1,256 
			 2010-11 1,140 
			 2011-12 968 
			 2012-13 736 
		
	
	HMRC does not hold the information requested on the number of referrals made to the Crown Prosecution Service for minimum wage offences.
	The number of inspections that HMRC has completed in the period requested is in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Completed inspections 
			 2008-09 4,317 
			 2009-10 3,643 
			 2010-11 2,904 
			 2011-12 2,534 
			 2012-13 1,693 
		
	
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the right hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow) on 15 April 2013, Official Report, column 178W, for details of penalties imposed on employers for the period requested. The number of penalties charged for the full 2012-13 financial year was 708.

Oil: Prices

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has assessed the potential effects of a $50 increase in the price of oil on the UK's GDP.

Sajid Javid: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts. In September 2010, the OBR published a working paper, ‘Assessment of the Effect of Oil Price Fluctuations on the Public Finances’. This analysis by the OBR suggests that a 20% increase in the price of oil reduces actual output by approximately 0.2% compared to a baseline scenario. In their March 2012 Economic and fiscal outlook, the OBR estimated that an immediate $50 shock to the oil price would lead to GDP growth in 2012-13 falling from their central forecast of 1.0% to 0.3%.

Revenue and Customs

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what data HM Revenue and Customs (a) publishes and (b) collects but does not publish about incidences of fraud in the public sector.

David Gauke: HMRC publishes a wide range of information about fraud and non-compliance with the tax system. This includes the overall results of compliance activity and revenues gained as a result, general information about successful prosecutions once those have concluded in the courts, and a range of statistical information, including estimates of the tax gap, which includes estimates of the tax lost to fraud. HMRC also provides information in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, in response to letters from hon. Members and others, and in response to questions from hon. Members and noble Lords.
	My hon. Friend can find useful data in the following publications:
	The HMRC Annual report. Most recent iteration for 2011-12 can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-report-and-resource-accounts-2011-12
	The 2012-13 report will be published in due course.
	Measuring Tax Gaps:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-gaps.htm
	Levelling the Playing Field: the most recent update of HMRC compliance performance:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2013/level-tax-playing-field.pdf
	HMRC also publishes the names of deliberate defaulters—people who have received penalties either for:
	Deliberate errors in their tax returns, or
	Deliberately failing to comply with their tax obligations.
	These data are available here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/defaulters/
	HMRC also collects a wide range of information which it does not publish. The Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 precludes disclosure of information held by HMRC for a function of HMRC, except in certain circumstances set out in the Act. This includes information about the affairs of individual customers, sensitive information held as part of, for example, a criminal investigation, and data underlying published data which are not appropriate to publish in their own right. Other laws which apply to HMRC also prevent publication in certain circumstances. Information held by HMRC is also, in some circumstances, exempt from publication by one or more provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Revenue and Customs

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs has spent on counter-fraud activities in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Within HMRC, the majority of counter-fraud activity is carried out in Enforcement and Compliance. The Enforcement and Compliance initial allocations for each of the last five years were:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2008-09 1,086 
			 2009-10 1,043 
			 2010-11 1,011 
			 2011-12 1,022 
			 2012-13 1,033 
		
	
	Other costs in other parts of HMRC are also attributable to ‘counter-fraud’ activity, but these only be disaggregated can at disproportionate cost.

Revenue and Customs

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many full-time equivalent staff in HM Revenue and Customs have worked on counter-fraud activities in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: HMRC tackles a wide range of behaviour involving non-compliance with the tax system, including error,, tax avoidance, tax evasion, fraud and criminal attack. HMRC works on a risk basis, and HMRC compliance officers and investigators may work on cases involving several behaviours and risks at anytime.
	Within HMRC compliance and investigation work is primarily carried out by staff in the Enforcement and Compliance line of business. All staff in Enforcement and Compliance support the fight against evasion and avoidance, either directly or indirectly. The number of staff employed (full-time equivalent) by Enforcement and Compliance over the last five years are:
	
		
			  FTE 
			 2008-09 32,243.85 
			 2009-10 26,863.81 
			 2010-11 25,475.26 
			 2011-12 25,334.34 
			 2012-13 26,601.02 
		
	
	Within Enforcement and Compliance, the Specialist Investigations and Criminal Investigation directorates deal with the most serious attacks against the tax system. The total number of staff within SI and CI for each of the last five years are:
	
		
			  SI CI 
			 2008-09 1,506.05 2,052.8 
			 2009-10 1,563.42 1,828.43 
			 2010-11 1,521.09 1,862.27 
			 2011-12 1,424.76 2,222.05 
			 2012-13 1,632.47 2,264.42 
		
	
	A disaggregated breakdown of this data is only available at a disproportionate cost.

Revenue and Customs

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount lost from HM Revenue and Customs' budget as a result of fraud in each of the last five years.

David Gauke: Estimates are available for the revenue lost to tax fraud for the UK, and the level of fraud in tax credits. There are no equivalent figures for the amount lost due to fraud in child benefit.
	Estimates of the revenue lost to tax fraud are available for 2007-08, 2009-10 and 2010-11, I refer the hon. Member to my reply on 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 436W, to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Tom Greatrex).
	There are two separate sets of statistics covering fraud in tax credits available for 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11. The first is taken from HMRC’s tax credit Error and Fraud Analytical Programme (EFAP) which provides estimates of the value of finalised tax credits claimed fraudulently by individuals. Figures taken from EFAP are presented as a range as they are based on the findings from examining a sample of awards, which are grossed-up to give population estimates.
	For 2008-09—£380 million to £550 million:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120817183511/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtcredits-error0809.pdf
	For 2009-10—£270 million to £530 million:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120817183511/http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtcredits-error0910.pdf
	For 2010-11—£540 million to £800 million:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/fin-error-stats/cwtcredits-error.pdf
	The second set of statistics gives the amount of tax credits written off in respect of organised fraud identified during the year. This will not be picked up in EFAP because the awards involved are terminated in-year and, hence, never finalised:
	For 2008-09—£31.9 million:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/hmrc-accs-0809.pdf
	For 2009-10—£21.5 million:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/hmrc-accs-0910.pdf
	For 2010-11—£16.7 million:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/annual-report-accounts-1011.pdf

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answers of 18 March 2013, Official Report, column 420W, on the Child Benefit Office, and of 19 March 2013, Official Report, column 602W, on telephone services, what account was taken of the use by HM Revenue and Customs of 0800, 0808, 0844, 0845 or 0870 telephone numbers in giving the answer that none were used other than by the Debt Management Office.

David Gauke: The original answers provided information relating to the Child Benefit Office, HM Treasury and the agencies for which HM Treasury are responsible. The information requested in relation to HMRC is as follows;
	HMRC have 150 0845 customer facing numbers. The majority of the 0845 numbers relate to helplines within HMRC Contact Centres. There are no 0800, 0808, 0844 or 0870 numbers. HMRC has started to introduce 03XX numbers to migrate the 08XX numbers to over the coming months.

Tax Allowances: Business

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to provide further tax relief for small businesses for the purposes of reducing youth unemployment.

David Gauke: The Government have already taken steps to help small business and tackle youth unemployment.
	Budget 2013 announced that from April 2014 every business and charity will be entitled to a £2,000 employment allowance to reduce their employer national insurance contribution bill each year. This will reduce the costs of employment and support small businesses either hiring their first employee or expanding their workforce.
	The Government remain committed to supporting unemployed people into work through a combination of programmes including the Youth Contract and Work programme for the long term unemployed.

Venture Capital

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of how much (a) has been invested in small and medium-sized enterprises via venture capital trusts since their introduction and (b) he anticipates will be so invested in the future;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of jobs likely to be created in small and medium-sized enterprises as a result of venture capital trust funding over the next five years.

David Gauke: Between 1995-96 and 2011-12 £4.7 billion was raised by venture capital trusts. At least 70% of all funds raised by venture capital trusts are invested in small and medium-sized enterprises.
	HM Revenue and Customs publishes National Statistics on the amounts of funds raised by venture capital trusts for each year between 1995-96 and 2011-12.
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/vct/table8-6.pdf
	There are no data available on future trends of investment in small and medium-sized enterprises by venture capital trusts or on the number of jobs that have been created by venture capital trusts.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Beef: Russia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he has taken to promote export of British beef to Russia since the lifting of the ban on British beef imports by that country.

David Heath: DEFRA collaborates closely with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to promote exports from the farming, food and drink sector. DEFRA, UKTI and industry jointly lead the action plan, "Driving Export Growth in the Farming, Food and Drink Sector", published in January 2012. This sets out how Government and industry will work together to open up and take advantage of key markets.
	Both the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and I are actively promoting UK agricultural exports through a series of visits to key markets.
	We worked hard to agree health conditions with the Russian authorities on the export of beef and lamb by the end of last year. Russian authorities impose stringent conditions on meat for export to the Russian market.
	We continue to engage with the Russian authorities to ensure that those companies that wish to take of advantage of this market are listed by the Russian authorities as eligible to export to Russia.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on badger cull trials in the UK.

David Heath: The Government have committed, as part of a package of measures, to developing affordable options for a carefully-managed and science-led policy of badger control in areas with high and persistent levels of bovine TB in England.
	Scientific evidence shows conclusively that badgers contribute significantly to bovine TB in cattle. This evidence comes from the randomised badger culling trial.
	The pilots are being carried out to monitor the effectiveness, humaneness and safety of controlled shooting. The monitoring will be overseen by an independent panel of experts, who have advised on the appropriate methods for monitoring effectiveness and humaneness. They will evaluate the pilots before reporting back to Government. Ministers will then decide whether the policy should be rolled out more widely.
	I remain committed to taking forward this evidence-based policy, as part of a wider programme for eradication of bovine TB in England. The Government and NFU continue to plan so that the pilots can go ahead in summer 2013.
	Cattle measures will remain central to the Government's approach, which needs to be comprehensive and risk-based.
	The Government's policy on Bovine TB and badger control in England can be found at the following link and I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69463/pb13691-bovinetb-policy-statement.pdf

Food Banks

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the increase of food banks across the UK.

David Heath: The Government recognise that rising food prices mean, for many, a greater proportion of household income is being spent on food. There are no official figures for the number of charities providing food aid, including through food banks, or the number of people using food banks in the UK. The provision of food aid ranges from small, local provision through to regional and national schemes. Food banks are a mostly community-led provision responding to local needs. We are not proposing to record the number of food banks, or the potential number of people using them or other types of food aid. To do so would place unnecessary burdens on volunteers trying to help their communities.
	DEFRA has commissioned research to review evidence on the landscape of food provision and access. The work comprises a short research project assessing evidence already publically available on the provision of food aid in the UK. The conclusions of this work will be available in the summer and published on the Government's website.
	We continue to work nationally and internationally to promote open global markets and boost trade, which helps keep food prices at levels that all households in the UK find affordable.

Horsemeat

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answers of 28 January 2013, Official Report, column 594W, on horse meat: exports, what the (a) value and (b) weight of horse meat is that was (i) exported, (ii) slaughtered for export and (iii) slaughtered for domestic use in each of the last five months for which figures are available.

David Heath: DEFRA does not collect value or tonnage figures for horses slaughtered for export or for domestic use. The Food Standards Agency collects information on the number of animals slaughtered but not on weight or monetary value.
	The monetary value and weight of UK exports of equine meat and offal is shown in the following table. The latest data available is for February 2013.
	
		
			 UK exports of Equine meat and offal 
			   £000 Tonnes 
			 2012 October 388 246 
			  November 363 195 
			  December 247 136 
			     
			 2013 January 203 117 
			  February 88 48 
			 Note: 2012 and 2013 data is subject to amendments. Source: HM Revenue and Customs

Horses: Slaughterhouses

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the response by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to Freedom of Information request AT1 250, at which abattoir each horse was slaughtered.

David Heath: The additional information sought on horses which have tested non-compliant for the presence of phenylbutazone in the last five years is set out in the table. These include horses tested under the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD's) statutory surveillance programme, operated in accordance with Council Directive 96/23/EC, and the four non-compliant horses found under the supplementary testing carried out by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the second half of 2012.
	All of the non-compliant samples for 2013 have been found under the FSA's programme testing all horses presented for slaughter for human consumption for the presence of phenylbutazone.
	Under the surveillance programme kidney is analysed as the target tissue which gives the best indication of the presence of phenylbutazone in horses.
	
		
			 Name of horse Abattoir where slaughtered 
			 2008  
			 Justin A Risky Moment High Peak Exports Ltd 
			 Toby Stillmans Ltd 
			 River Melody Stillmans Ltd 
			   
			 2009  
			 None — 
			   
			 2010  
			 Compton Place Stillmans Ltd 
			 Beaupre Prince Stillmans Ltd 
			 Kalamazoo Stillmans Ltd 
			 Llwyncelyn Rockafella Stillmans Ltd 
			 Unknown Stillmans Ltd 
			   
			 2011  
			 Unknown Stillmans Ltd 
			   
			 2012  
			 Zaftil Stillmans Ltd 
			 Unknown Stillmans Ltd 
			 Billy High Peak Exports Ltd 
			 Perkin Warbeck Stillmans Ltd 
			 Kilcoolen Francis Stillmans Ltd 
			 Unknown Stillmans Ltd 
			 Unknown High Peak Exports Ltd 
			 Unknown Stillmans Ltd 
			 Unknown High Peak Exports Ltd 
			   
			 2013  
			 Sally Stillmans Ltd 
			 Sonnie Horizon Stillmans Ltd 
			 Moses Stillmans Ltd 
			 Pavarotti High Peak Exports Ltd 
			 Jess High Peak Exports Ltd 
			 On the Money Stillmans Ltd 
			 Manikka Stillmans Ltd 
			 Sultan's Seal Stillmans Ltd 
			 Spotted Orchid Stillmans Ltd 
			 Black Jack Stillmans Ltd 
			 Cream High Peak Exports Ltd 
			 Osocool High Peak Exports Ltd 
			 Bertie Stillmans Ltd 
			 Llanarth Catkin High Peak Exports Ltd 
			 Tyrone Bally Bow Stillmans Ltd 
			 Sunny Ways Stillmans Ltd 
			 Victoria Stillmans Ltd 
			 Redwood Lodge Chances R High Peak Exports Ltd 
			 Unknown Stillmans Ltd 
			 Upton Crystal(1) Stillmans Ltd 
			 (1) The name of the horse was not available at the time of the ATI request.

Pesticides

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides; and what assessment he has made of the use of such pesticides on bee populations.

Richard Benyon: Pesticides are tightly regulated in the UK in accordance with EU pesticides legislation and neonicotinoid insecticide products authorised for use in the UK meet the current standards set by the regulatory system. Legal restrictions are in place to limit the exposure of bees to these products. A code of practice is in place for professional pesticide users, such as farmers, on how and when pesticides are used so as to minimise the impact on bees. All pesticide users must comply with all the conditions of a product's authorisation. These will include application rates and timings and where appropriate specific risk mitigation measures on product labels to protect bees.
	While laboratory studies show that bees may be significantly affected by neonicotinoids, field data on honey bees indicates that the level of exposure in real life does not lead to these harmful effects. There has been an absence of field data on other bee species and DEFRA, therefore, commissioned field trials on bumble bees. The report of these field trials was published on the DEFRA website with our assessment of the key evidence and is now available online at GOV.UK.
	Our assessment of the overall evidence concludes that it is not possible to rule out rare effects of neonicotinoids on bees in the field. However, the evidence indicates that effects on bees do not occur under normal circumstances. Consequently, it supports the view that the risk to bee populations from neonicotinoids, as they are currently used, is low.
	The European Commission has proposed restrictions on the use of three neonicotinoids, following the peer review by the European Food Safety Authority. We have urged the Commission to complete the scientific assessment, taking account of our new research, and to assess the impacts of action so that the measures taken are proportionate to the risks identified.

Pesticides

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress he has made on developing an action plan for the sustainable use of pesticides in the UK.

David Heath: DEFRA published the UK national action plan for the sustainable use of pesticides on 26 February 2013. It sets out current measures and future plans and identifies three priority issues. These are: protection of water; uptake of best practice among amenity and amateur users; and development and uptake of techniques for integrated pest management. The plan will be formally reviewed every five years in accordance with the requirements of the EU directive on the sustainable use of pesticides. It will also be updated to reflect developments in pesticides policy whenever appropriate thereby forming a living document.

Polar Bears

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the recent decision of the Convention on International Trade: Endangered Species on the commercial trade in polar bears, what steps he is taking to ensure appropriate protection for polar bears.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 18 April 2013
	The UK played an active part in efforts to secure agreement among the five polar bear range states on an acceptable basis for the protection of polar bears under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). We were disappointed that agreement could not be reached on this at the 16(th) Conference of the Parties in Bangkok on 3-14 March. The UK will continue to encourage the polar bear range states and other CITES Parties to work together in the future in the best interests of conserving this important species.

Pollution Control

Angie Bray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers are available to local authorities to tackle high levels of pollution in residential areas.

Richard Benyon: Local authorities have a range of powers to tackle high pollution. The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 provide powers in relation to control of emissions from a wide range of industrial activities. The Clean Air Acts provide powers in relation to the control of smoke and other emission from commercial and residential sites. Noise and statutory nuisance are controlled by powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Noise Act 1996.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Complaints

Jim Shannon: To ask the Attorney-General if he will take steps to introduce a complaints procedure for matters relating to the work of the Law Officers' Departments and the public bodies for which they are responsible that provides for an independent investigation for the purposes of promoting accountability to the general public.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is in the process of appointing an Independent Assessor of Complaints who will provide independent scrutiny of non-legal complaints from victims and witnesses against the CPS. This appointment supports the CPS' commitment to increasing public assurance and confidence in the service that it provides.
	The CPS and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) are answerable in the courts in respect of prosecutorial decisions.
	In addition HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) undertakes regular independent inspection and assessment of the CPS prosecution services, with the aim of improving its effectiveness and efficiency. I have already announced to Parliament my intention to widen the remit of HMCPSI to cover the operations of the Serious Fraud Office.
	The Treasury Solicitor's Departments (TSol) main role is to provide legal services to Government Departments and other publicly funded bodies in England and Wales and is ultimately accountable to the courts for the quality of its work. The parliamentary and health service ombudsman also provides independent scrutiny of TSol’s handling of complaints.

Criminal Proceedings

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General on how many occasions a judge or magistrate has refused the admission of bad character or hearsay evidence as a result of late service of the application or the evidence in support in each of the last five years.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of times a judge or magistrate has refused the admission of bad character or Hearsay evidence as a result of late service of the application or the evidence in support. To provide this information would require a manual search of files and incur a disproportionate cost.

Criminal Proceedings

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  on how many occasions the prosecution has offered no evidence in the (a) magistrates' court and (b) Crown court following the commencement of criminal proceedings in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what records the Crown Prosecution Service keeps of the number of occasions in which the prosecution offers no evidence in the magistrates' court and in the Crown court following the commencement of criminal proceedings.

Dominic Grieve: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains a central record of the number of defendants prosecuted whose prosecution outcome is recorded as 'offer no evidence' in magistrates courts and in the Crown court.
	The following tables represent the number of defendants prosecuted in magistrates courts and in the Crown court, whose prosecution concluded with an outcome of 'offer no evidence' in each of the last five years.
	
		
			 (a) Magistrates courts 
			  Offered no evidence  
			  Number Percentage Total prosecutions 
			 2008-09 25,769 2.8 928,708 
			 2009-10 25,257 2.9 872,585 
			 2010-11 26,107 3.1 841,180 
			 2011-12 24,956 3.2 787,958 
			 2012-13 23,885 3.4 707,995 
		
	
	
		
			 (b) Crown court 
			  Offered no evidence  
			  Number Percentage Total prosecutions 
			 2008-09 9,734 9.4 103,890 
			 2009-10 10,537 9.6 110,146 
			 2010-11 12,469 10.6 117,654 
			 2011-12 10,649 9.8 108,547 
			 2012-13 9,212 9.4 98,463

Criminal Proceedings

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General what the total amount has been of wasting costs orders made against the Crown Prosecution Service in the criminal courts in each of the last five years.

Dominic Grieve: There are a range of costs orders that can be made against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). These include costs orders under section 19 of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, where an order may be made that one party pay the costs of the other party to criminal proceedings. Such an order may be made when the court is satisfied that the costs in question have been incurred by party A as a result of “an unnecessary or improper act of omission by or on behalf of” party B.
	Costs can also be ordered under section 19A of the same Act where an order may be made against a legal representative that s/he pay “wasted costs”. Wasted costs are costs incurred as a result of improper, unreasonable or negligent act or omission on the part of any representative or the employee of any representative.
	Furthermore, costs can be ordered under section 19B of the same Act against third parties to pay the costs incurred by any other party to the proceedings.
	Finally, in civil proceedings, such as restraint proceedings when dealing with matters under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, inter-parties costs orders can be made which follow the event, namely that costs are awarded against the losing party.
	The CPS maintains records of the overall value of costs payments made but does not distinguish between the various types of costs order listed above. To ascertain the types and value of individual costs awards made over the last five years would require a review of each case and this would incur disproportionate cost.
	The total value of costs awards paid by CPS over each of the last five years is:
	
		
			 Total costs payments against the CPS 
			  £ 
			 2008-09 652,766 
			 2009-10 907,061 
			 2010-11 1,547,874 
			 2011-12 384,682 
			 2012-13 (provisional) 1,202,514 
		
	
	The value of total costs payments made in 2012-13 was £1.2 million which represents about 0.19% of overall CPS expenditure.

Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General on how many occasions the Crown Prosecution Service has applied for an extension of time for service of papers beyond the statutory requirements as set out in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the Service of Prosecution Evidence Regulations 2005 S.I. No 902 and the Criminal Procedure Rule 2011 in each of the last five years.

Dominic Grieve: The CPS does not maintain a central record of the number of times an application, to extend the time available for the service of case papers beyond the statutory requirements, is made. To provide this information would require a manual search of files and incur a disproportionate cost.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Youth Sport

Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps her Department is taking to encourage youth sport participation.

Hugh Robertson: holding answer 18 April 2013
	Over £1 billion is being invested into youth and community sport—helping to ensure a lasting legacy of the London 2012 games and providing all young people the chance to begin a lifetime’s habit of playing sport. This will be complemented by the recently announced £150 million School Sport Premium, which will see funds go directly into the hands of primary school head teachers for them to spend on improving the quality of PE and sport for all their pupils.

Health Education: Sex

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if she will request that the British Board of Film Classification provides an age rating to material used in sex and relationship education in primary schools;
	(2)  what discussions her Department has had with the providers of sex and relationship education to primary schools about requiring the British Board of Film Classification to provide an age rating to such material;
	(3)  what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education about requiring the British Board of Film Classification to provide an age rating to material used in sex and relationship education in primary schools.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 22 April 2013
	Currently most educational DVDs do not require British Board of Film Classification age ratings under the Video Recordings Act. However, DCMS has been consulting on whether this exemption—which also applies to many music, sports and religious DVDs—should be changed so that more products are required to carry statutory age ratings in future. The Government response to the consultation will be published shortly.
	The British Board of Film Classification, a number of organisations directly involved in the counselling and education of children and providers of sex education materials were among the wide range of stakeholders who contributed views and evidence during the consultation.
	DCMS and DFE have worked very closely together throughout the consultation process and on the development of the Government response.

Press: Regulation

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 10 April 2013, Official Report, column 1141W, on press: regulation, whether a contribution by guest bloggers to an hon. Member's blog would make that blog subject to the provisions of the new press regulation system.

Edward Vaizey: It is not the Government's intention that the current version of the 'relevant publisher' definition should catch individual bloggers who are acting in the course of a business and who occasionally invite a guest to blog in their place. If a blog is not acting in the course of business it is not caught in any case. However, in order to put this issue beyond doubt, the Government have tabled amendments to the Crime and Courts Bill on 18 April in order to exempt small scale blog sites where they may otherwise be caught by the definition of ‘relevant publisher’. This provides that if you are a multi-authored blog, and you are a microbusiness, defined as an organisation with less than 10 members of staff and that has an annual turnover of no more than £2 million, you are not defined as a ‘relevant publisher’. The Government amendments to the definition of a ‘relevant publisher’, as provided for in the Crime and Courts Bill, was debated in the House of Commons on 22 April.

Public Lending Right

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what savings will be achieved over the next 10 years by transferring the administration of public lending right to the British Library; and what proportion such savings represent of the (a) total and (b) administration cost of the scheme over that period;
	(2)  how many respondents there were to the public consultation on transferring public lending right functions to another public body; how many such respondents were (a) in favour and (b) against a transfer to the British Library; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Government Response to the consultation on the proposed transfer of the public lending right (PLR) functions was published on 27 March 2013 and sets out a detailed summary of the consultation responses received and our response. The Government Response and impact assessment also set out the savings to be realised by the transfer, information about the current level of PLR grant in aid, and information about the administrative costs of the scheme under the present arrangements. The Government Response and impact assessment are published on the Department's website at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-proposals-to-transfer-plr-funding-and-functions

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many days of work were carried out by officials in (a) her Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on average in each of the last five years; and what the total salary cost was of officials in each year.

Hugh Robertson: The number of days of work carried out by officials in DCMS, on average, in each of the last five years was 220.5 per annum.
	The following table shows the total salary cost of officials in each of the last five financial years:
	
		
			 Financial year Total salary cost (£) 
			 2008-09 24,741,400 
			 2009-10 25,627,081 
			 2010-11 25,035,372 
			 2011-12 26,177,783 
			 2012-13 22,267,166 
		
	
	We do not hold central records for our agency and non-departmental public bodies.

Television: Licensing

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will bring forward legislative proposals to abolish television licences in the UK.

Edward Vaizey: We have no plans to abolish television licenses in the UK. In 2010, this Government decided to freeze the licence fee at £145.50 until March 2017.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Dementia

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has a dementia strategy.

Esther McVey: We fully support the Prime Minister's dementia challenge. Our disability strategy—fulfilling potential—is exploring how we can help all disabled people including people living with dementia, to realise their aspirations for life.

Disability: Children

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of disabled children living in poverty in Birmingham.

Esther McVey: It is not possible to provide figures for Birmingham due to small sample sizes. In 2010-11 across the UK there were 100,000 disabled children living in families with below 60% of relative median income, before housing costs. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000. Low income figures are published annually in the Households below Average Income publication available here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page==hbai
	The Government launched a consultation on measuring child poverty on 15 November 2012. The consultation sought views on better measurement of child poverty in the UK. The Government believe that, in addition to income, it is important to take other elements into account, such as worklessness, educational failure and poor health. The consultation closed on 15 February 2013. The responses to the consultation are currently being analysed, and the Government's response will be published in the summer.

Fines: Scotland

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Justice on the creation of an Information Sharing Gateway between the Scottish Court Service (SCS) and his Department to help the SCS enforce fine collections; who was involved in such discussions; what was discussed; and what conclusion was reached.

Mark Hoban: The Department agrees that the Scottish Court Service should have the same access to its data as Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service to enforce fine collections. Primary legislation is required to achieve this. Following correspondence with the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Justice, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), has asked officials to explore with officials in other Government Departments a suitable legislative vehicle for this purpose. Such discussions are now underway.

Funeral Payments

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) social fund crisis loan applications and (b) grants to cover funeral costs were (i) unsuccessful and (ii) successful in (A) each region of the UK and (B) in total in financial year (1) 2010-11, (2) 2011-12 and (3) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: Tables 1 to 3 give the number of successful and unsuccessful applications for crisis loans and funeral payments by region in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively.
	
		
			 Table 1: Successful and unsuccessful applications for crisis loans and funeral payments in 2010-11, by region 
			 Number 
			  Crisis loans Funeral payments 
			 Region Successful Unsuccessful Successful Unsuccessful 
			 East of England 192,100 53,200 2,300 2,100 
			 East Midlands 151,000 42,300 3,900 3,900 
			 London 288,900 91,500 3,200 3,600 
			 North East 173,900 50,500 2,200 2,200 
			 North West 476,800 122,200 5,200 5,200 
			 Scotland 344,300 92,400 4,600 3,800 
			 South East 288,600 67,100 2,700 3,300 
			 South West 150,600 34,300 1,600 2,400 
			 Wales 142,800 42,000 2,000 2,400 
			 West Midlands 219,400 76,900 3,400 3,900 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 228,700 67,400 2,200 2,200 
			 Total 2,657,100 739,700 33,300 35,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Successful and unsuccessful applications for crisis loans and funeral payments in 2011-12, by region 
			 Number 
			  Crisis loans Funeral payments 
			 Region Successful Unsuccessful Successful Unsuccessful 
			 East of England 140,700 33,300 2,400 2,500 
			 East Midlands 123,800 30,600 2,300 2,500 
			 London 206,400 52,600 3,200 3,700 
			 North East 134,700 35,600 2,200 2,600 
			 North West 354,500 86,100 5,100 5,600 
			 Scotland 271,400 60,600 4,200 4,300 
			 South East 222,700 44,800 2,600 3,800 
			 South West 122,800 26,100 1,900 2,400 
			 Wales 109,600 27,900 2,300 2,000 
			 West Midlands 192,500 50,100 3,200 3,500 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 192,100 52,400 3,300 3,600 
			 Total 2,071,200 500,000 32,700 36,300 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Successful and unsuccessful applications for crisis loans and funeral payments in 2012-13, by region 
			 Number 
			  Crisis loans Funeral payments 
			 Region Successful Unsuccessful Successful Unsuccessful 
			 East of England 116,000 39,200 2,300 2,300 
			 East Midlands 102,800 37,100 2,100 2,200 
			 London 182,000 64,600 3,000 3,700 
			 North East 113,000 42,800 1,700 2,500 
			 North West 287,100 107,000 4,900 5,200 
			 Scotland 222,400 78,700 4,100 4,200 
			 South East 179,100 50,500 2,100 3,500 
			 South West 104,400 31,700 1,800 2,400 
			 Wales 89,200 33,200 2,200 2,000 
			 West Midlands 164,800 60,000 3,100 3,500 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 170,200 63,900 3,200 2,900 
			 Total 1,731,200 608,800 30,400 34,300 
			 Notes: 1. The information provided is management information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have management information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, they do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the social fund computer system. 2. These figures do not include applications that were withdrawn. Applications where a decision had not been made at the time of the count have also been excluded. 3. All volumes are rounded to the nearest 100. 4. These tables give the number of applications rather than the number of people making application. Individuals may make multiple applications.

Hearing Impairment: Telecommunications

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what provision his Department has made for video relay services for deaf people;
	(2)  how many people requested the use of video relay services to access his Department's services in the latest period for which figures are available.

Esther McVey: For deaf people who want to contact us by telephone we offer a range of alternative services including textalk and the Big Word telephone interpreting services.
	Although we do not currently provide Video Relay Services, we are reviewing options for improving the range of accessible technology the Department invests in, and we are working closely with DCMS and employers to encourage wider investment in accessible technology to assist disabled people.
	In offices where we see customers face to face we provide a range of alternative communication support for deaf people such as induction loops, British Sign Language interpreter, Lipspeaker or other Communicator support.
	The information on the number of people requesting the use of video relay services is not collected.

Incapacity Benefit: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals in Peterborough constituency previously in receipt of incapacity benefit have elected not to be reassessed for any successor benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not available. However the Department regularly publishes official statistics on employment and support allowance (ESA), the work capability assessment (WCA) and the reassessment of incapacity benefit claimants. This includes cases where the claim has been closed before the assessment is complete which will include claimants who have decided not to be assessed for employment and support allowance. The latest report was published in January 2013 and includes a breakdown by local authority. It can be found at:
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/esa_ibr/esa_ibr_jan13.xls

Independent Living Fund

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what analysis his Department performed on the potential discrimination and human rights effects of those affected as part of the consultation process to close the Independent Living Fund in 2015.

Esther McVey: An equality impact assessment, “Closure of the Independent Living Fund and integration of users into the mainstream care and support system” was published on 18 December 2012 alongside the Government's response to the consultation exercise.
	This Government remain committed to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including the right to independent living.

Jobcentre Plus: Worthing

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the letter to hon. Members of 22 February 2013 from the Surrey and Sussex district manager, if he will set out statistics for each of the last 12 months to illustrate the call volumes at Worthing Benefit Centre, with figures broken down for customers claiming (a) employment and support allowance and (b) other benefits; how much longer customers claiming employment and support allowance have had to wait for a call than his Department would have liked and in how many instances; if he will identify the further improvements that still need to be made; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not collated in this format; Worthing Benefit Centre moved over to a new telephony system in June last year. Please see the following table which gives telephony data from this period for employment support allowance (ESA). The target is to return 95% of calls within three hours. While the target was not met initially, improvement measures put in place to ensure achievement of the performance standard of 95% have been successful.
	During the same period jobseekers allowance (JSA) and income support (IS) have consistently met the target.
	
		
			 ESA 2012-13 Percentage of calls returned within three hours (Target 95%) 
			 July 12.0 
			 August 17.6 
			 September 13.7 
			 October 17.5 
			 November 24.4 
			 December 36.8 
			 January 44.3 
			 February 78.0 
			 March 95.2 
			 Up to 12 April 2013 98.0

Jobseeker's Allowance: Newham

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of new claims for jobseeker's allowance (a) in total and (b) made by claimants living in the London borough of Newham were made online in each of the last 12 months.

Mark Hoban: The following table shows the total percentage of new claims made for jobseekers allowance online nationally. These are internal data and have not been published as national statistics.
	Data for claimants in the London borough of Newham, are not available in the format you have requested.
	
		
			  National (MISP measure)(percentage) 
			 2012  
			 April 23.7 
			 May 23.4 
			 June 29.5 
		
	
	
		
			 July 30.9 
			 August 32.1 
			 September 39.0 
			 October 39.3 
			 November 41.9 
			 December 45.5 
			   
			 2013  
			 January 51.4 
			 February 52.9 
			 March 55.2

Personal Independence Payments

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential difficulties in assessing whether people with (a) multiple sclerosis and (b) other fluctuating conditions satisfy the 50% of days rule for personal independence payments; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: We know that assessing fluctuating conditions, including multiple sclerosis, can be difficult. Health professionals, who will conduct the assessments for personal independence payment, are being trained in assessing health conditions that fluctuate. The assessment providers have also been issued with guidance, which details what their health professionals should consider when assessing claimants who have a health condition that fluctuates, and what they should record in their assessment report, including the frequency and duration of fluctuations. We are confident that this will allow health professionals and departmental decision makers to make an informed decision about whether a claimant fulfils a descriptor on the majority of days.
	We recognise the need to ensure that the personal independence payment assessment is operating fairly and as planned, and that it can be amended in light of operational experience. We will be closely monitoring the operation of the assessment, including how it works for claimants with fluctuating conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
	Two independent reviews on the operation of the assessment will be carried out within the first four years of its operation. We intend that the first will be completed by the end of 2014, to allow us to consider its findings and make any necessary changes before the majority of existing DLA recipients begin to be reassessed from October 2015. This will ensure that we can learn the lessons of our early experiences.

Personal Independence Payments

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance he has issued to decision-makers on the appropriate length of award for personal independence payment.

Esther McVey: The Advice for Decision Making—Personal Independence Payment guidance
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/advice-for-decision-making/
	which includes advice on the appropriate lengths of awards, was made available for decision makers prior to go live.

Personal Independence Payments

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he will take to monitor the rates of reassessment for personal independence payment and the effect of such reassessments on the individuals concerned.

Esther McVey: The decision to complete the reassessment of disability living allowance (DLA) claimants over a longer period will allow us to use lessons learned from our new claims experience, analyse the numbers of claims being reassessed and ensure the reassessment process is working correctly. We will use this information to inform the handling of the bulk reassessment of DLA claimants.
	DWP officials are finalising plans for the evaluation of PIP, which will include an exploration of claimants' experience of the end-to-end claims process. Outline evaluation plans were published on the DWP website in December 2012:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180969/pip-evaluation-proposals.pdf
	We will also consider the findings from the first independent review of personal independence payment, due at the end of 2014, to inform our approach to reassessing DLA claimants for personal independence payment.

Social Security Benefits

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what advice his Department has received on its liability under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 in cases where a coroner has returned a verdict attributing a cause of death to a benefit assessment undertaken on behalf of his Department.

Mark Hoban: The Minister is not aware of any advice being received to date, in connection with departmental liability under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what data his Department publishes on fraud in the welfare sector.

Mark Hoban: Estimates of benefit fraud and error overpayments and underpayments, from 2005-06 to 2011-12, are published on the Department's website at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/index.php?page=fraud_error
	These are National Statistics and are available at the Great Britain level only. These estimates typically show overpayments and underpayments both as the monetary value of fraud and error and as a percentage of the benefit expenditure paid out in the year. Additional tables are also published showing the percentage of claims overpaid and underpaid for certain benefits, but again at the Great Britain level only
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/fem/fem_1112.xls
	Housing Benefits Recoveries and Fraud contains statistics relating to housing benefit fraud volumes and amounts of incorrectly overpaid benefit. It is aggregate level data received on a quarterly basis from each local authority. Data have already been released for each quarter of 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12. This release includes provisional local authority level statistics for Q1 and Q2 of 2012-13 and can be found here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/hb_ctb/recoveries_and_fraud_data/index.php?page=recoveries_and_fraud_data

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether it is his policy that 80% of universal credit applications should be made online by 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: For jobseekers allowance (JSA), we have a target of 80% of claims being made online by September 2013. Our latest figures show that more than 51% of JSA claims received by the Department are already made online, and we expect the proportion of online claims to build up as people are supported to use the new system. We are using the JSA online experience to prepare for the introduction of universal credit. Our target for universal credit is 80% by the end of 2017.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects all new claims to existing benefits and credits to be entirely phased-out and replaced with universal credit.

Mark Hoban: Universal credit will progressively roll-out in a carefully managed and controlled way from October 2013 with all those who are entitled to UC claiming the new benefit by 2017.

Vacancies: Advertising

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of jobs advertised on the Universal Jobmatch website were for self-employment in (a) Makerfield constituency and (b) the UK since that website was introduced.

Mark Hoban: The proportion of self-employed new jobs at UK level advertised on the Universal Jobmatch website between the dates of 19 November 2012, when the service was introduced, and 31 March 2013 was 13.7%. The proportion of self employed new jobs advertised for the Makerfield parliamentary constituency over the same period was 33.4%.

Vacancies: Advertising

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will publish details of the proportion of jobs advertised through the Universal Jobmatch website in each economic sector since that website was introduced.

Mark Hoban: The information is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Vacancies: Advertising

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have been subject to sanctions for not applying to vacancies advertised through the Universal Jobsmatch website.

Mark Hoban: The information requested is not available.

Winter Fuel Payments: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Peterborough constituency are eligible for winter fuel payments.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available.
	Over 95% of winter fuel payments are made automatically, without the need to claim, based on information held in DWP records. A small number of people whose circumstances we do not know need to make a claim. It is not possible to give the exact number of eligible people, but we have no reason to estimate that eligibility is materially different from the number of payments made.
	Information on the number of winter fuel payments paid is provided in the document ‘Winter Fuel Payment recipients 20,11 -12 by Parliamentary Constituencies and Gender (All)’. We expect a similar number of, payments to be made in future years.
	This information is available on the internet at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=wfp

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit sanction referrals were made by Work programme providers in (a) 2011, (b) 2012 and (c) January to March 2013.

Mark Hoban: This specific information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
	Statistics on how many jobseeker's allowance (JSA) fixed length sanction referrals, where a decision has been made, were from Work programme providers from the 1 of June 2011 to the 21 of October 2012 can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 7 February 2013, Official Report, column 404W, on the Work programme, for what reason his Department can no longer confirm that Work programme referral and outcome data will be published on 28 May 2013; and whether he plans to publish outcome data ahead of that date.

Mark Hoban: The delay in announcing the publication date of Work programme referral and outcome data is a result of the Department working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure that the statistics we publish meet the required high quality standards.
	Work programme referral and outcome data will be published on 27 June 2013.

Work Programme

Andrew McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy that all participants involved in the Work programme and Work Choice programme should be explicitly informed, as part of their in-work support, of their right to join a trade union.

Mark Hoban: No. Our policy is that it is for providers to identify appropriate in-work support for individuals.

TRANSPORT

Electric Vehicles

Yvonne Fovargue: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rapid chargers have been installed under the Plugged-in Places scheme; and in what locations they have been installed.

Norman Baker: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 22 April 2013, Official Report, columns 589-90W.

Electric Vehicles: Motorcycles

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the Office for Low Emission Vehicles on electric motorbikes; and what progress has been made on electric motorbikes.

Norman Baker: I have met a senior management delegation of the Electric Motor Cycles Industries Association (eMCI) to discuss the potential role of electric motor cycles in realising our growth and environmental aspirations. I received briefing for this meeting from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles. The meeting was followed up with detailed technical meetings between representatives from the eMCI, motorcycle manufacturers and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

Great Western Railway Line

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how his Department plans to ensure that suitable electric rolling stock is available for use by the Great Western franchise from 2015 onwards.

Simon Burns: On 31 January 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport confirmed that the Department for Transport would seek to ensure that the benefits for passengers sought in new franchise agreements are not impacted as a result of the delayed franchising programme.
	The Department for Transport is currently investing in the InterCity Express programme, which will provide a fleet of trains for electrically operated services via Swindon.

Motor Sports

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions Ministers and officials in his Department have had with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on support for motorcycle sports.

Stephen Hammond: DCMS had written to my predecessor drawing to his attention the Motorcycle Sport Code of Practice being planned and asking the DfT to support this. I have now given a statement in support of this code of practice. Officials have also corresponded with DCMS about the motor racing on the roads project.

Motorcycles: Accidents

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department is taking to reduce motorcycle fatalities.

Stephen Hammond: The Government are aware that motorcyclists account for just 1% of the traffic on our roads but in 2012, they accounted for 19% of fatalities, so reducing this number is a key priority.
	Our latest THINK! Motorcycle Safety Campaign, which began in March, reminds drivers to look out for motorcyclists—particularly at junctions—and to see the person behind the helmet and not just a motorbike.
	In addition, as part of this Campaign, the THINK! team have worked with key motorcycling stakeholders and partners, including manufacturers, retailers, insurers and training organisations, in developing effective materials to communicate key messages to motorcyclists. These include promoting protective gear, post test training and defensive riding techniques.
	The latest round of 11 motorcycle helmets rated under our ‘SHARP helmet safety scheme’ now brings the overall total to 300. With safety helmets across a wide price range scoring highly, all riders should be able to find a high performing helmet in a size and style that fits them, and at a price they want to pay.

Official Hospitality

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible claimed reimbursements for working lunches and official entertainment in each of the last five years; and what the total cost was in each such year.

Norman Baker: The Department is unable to provide information on how much has been spent on the requested categories, if any, as data are not collected at this level of detail. It is not required for our statutory reporting and it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Railways: Electrification

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress Network Rail has made with its electrification programme; and when he expects the current programme to be completed.

Simon Burns: Network Rail's strategic business plan for the period between 2014 and 2019 includes a programme of electrification projects which are at varying stages of development and delivery. Network Rail's strategic business plan is currently being reviewed by the Office of Rail Regulation under the periodic review process. The Department expects that timescales for completion of the electrification projects will be confirmed through the periodic review. The next stage of the periodic review is the publication of a draft determination by the Office of Rail Regulation in June 2013.

Rescue Services

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in (a) Stornoway and (b) Belfast was staffed at below risk-assessed levels in March 2013.

Stephen Hammond: The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC) at Stornoway and Belfast were staffed below the risk assessed levels in March 2013 on the following number of occasions:
	(a) Belfast 54 occasions out of 62 shifts
	(b) Stornoway 16 occasions out of 62 shifts
	These situations are mitigated by ‘MRCC pairing’ where each MRCC is connected to at least one other MRCC which is available to provide mutual support.
	In respect of Belfast MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Stornoway MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Shetland, Aberdeen, Liverpool or Holyhead. In respect of Stornoway MRCC mutual support is available through a fixed link from Belfast MRCC and dial up links from the MRCCs at Shetland or Aberdeen.

Roads: Safety

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the suitability of shared space schemes for people with a (a) mobility impairment, (b) visual impairment, (c) hearing impairment and (d) cognitive impairment.

Norman Baker: It is for local authorities to assess the suitability of their own shared space schemes for all road users including people with mobility, visual, hearing and cognitive impairments.
	In October 2011, the Department for Transport published guidance on the design and provision of shared space schemes. It focuses heavily on designing for disabled people in general with a particular emphasis on the needs of blind or partially sighted people.
	The research underpinning the guidance included accompanied journeys and interviews with a number of different user types: drivers; non-disabled pedestrians; visually impaired pedestrians; mobility impaired pedestrians; pedestrians with learning difficulties; and pedestrians who are deaf or hard of hearing. This research provides independent evidence and an improved understanding of how different user types behave in shared space, and how this differs from behaviour in conventionally designed streets.
	The guidance and the supporting research report are available online at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/ltn-01-11

Thameslink Railway Line

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the latest status is of the order for the new Thameslink trains.

Simon Burns: Bank credit committee approvals have now been confirmed in principle for the full funding required for the procurement. The Department is working with Siemens, Cross London Trains and relevant banks to complete the large amount of necessary legal documentation. We expect to reach financial close shortly.

Transport: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last met the Scottish Government Minister for Transport; and what issues were discussed at that meeting.

Norman Baker: The Secretary of State for Transport has not met with the Scottish Government Minister for Transport in an official capacity since taking office, but has had a number of telephone conversations. Issues discussed by Government Ministers are not normally disclosed.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Electric Cables: Runcorn

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when he expects to announce his decision in relation to the application by Manweb plc for a necessary wayleave to retain electric lines at land at the Heath Business and Technical Park, Runcorn, Cheshire.

Gregory Barker: The Inspector's report and recommendations are with Ministers for determination. The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), expects to announce his decision in relation to this application shortly.

Electricity Generation

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that the Energy Bill does not disadvantage independent energy generators.

Michael Fallon: In order to meet our energy and climate change commitments, we need to attract unprecedented investment in electricity generation and transmission. The Energy Bill sets out provisions to secure this investment.
	The Government are committed to supporting investment by independent generators. Independent developers have played an important role in delivering new capacity, and we expect them to continue to make a material contribution to delivering investment and meeting our objectives of keeping energy prices affordable and supplies secure, as we decarbonise. We are therefore taking powers in the Energy Bill to enable the Government to take action to improve the liquidity of the electricity market (a key barrier to entry), should it prove necessary.
	The contracts for difference proposed in the Energy Bill will also remove wholesale price risk and consequently improve conditions in the market for long-term power purchase agreements needed by many independent low carbon developers.
	Furthermore, we are taking powers to give Government the flexibility to ensure the availability of viable power purchase agreements for independent generators, should the market not develop as expected.

Energy: Billing

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to prevent energy companies from mis-selling their products.

Michael Fallon: There is a range of legislation that protects consumers from mis-selling. Where an energy company is offering a Green Deal product there are strict requirements about cold calling, including a requirement for companies to respect "no cold calling" zones set up by Trading Standards Authorities.
	Energy consumers are further protected by rules in the supply licence that govern marketing activities for gas and electricity supplies, which are enforced by the independent regulator, Ofgem.

Energy: Billing

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions he has had with energy companies regarding the mis-selling of products.

Michael Fallon: DECC Ministers and senior officials meet on a regular basis with energy companies to discuss a range of issues relating to energy consumers.

Energy: Billing

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to extend consumer protection on energy bills to businesses.

Michael Fallon: The independent regulator Ofgem is responsible for regulating gas and electricity supply in the business sector. As part of its retail market review Ofgem is proposing to extend consumer protection to around 160,000 more micro businesses (which typically spend up to £10,000 on gas or electricity per year) by extending existing protection on contract information and introducing enforceable standards of conduct covering billing, contracts and switching supplier.
	On back-billing, Ofgem has been working with industry and consumer groups to introduce a new set of voluntary standards for the treatment of micro-businesses, which includes a time limit for back-billing of three years for electricity and four-five years for gas. Some suppliers have made further commitments on these time limits. Ofgem will continue to monitor this area.

Heating

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many heat pumps he expects to be installed by 2020.

Gregory Barker: The most recently published expectation is that a total of 354,000 heat pumps will be installed by 2020; 338,000 in the domestic sector and 16,000 in the non-domestic sector.
	These figures refer to air-to-water and ground-source heat pumps only; they do not include air-to-air heat pumps, as we did not propose to support these in our consultation on the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
	We are currently updating our baseline figures in light of consultation responses and new evidence we have collected, and as a result of the changes we have made to the timetable for implementing changes to the RHI. We are intending to publish our updated view of the projected number of installations this summer.

Heating

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many heat pumps he expects to be installed in UK homes by 2020 as a result of (a) the Renewable Heat Incentive and (b) the requirements of Part L of Building Regulations.

Gregory Barker: The most recently published expectation is that 338,000 heat pumps will be installed in UK homes by 2020.
	This figure refers to air-to-water and ground-source heat pumps only; it does not include air-to-air heat pumps, as we did not propose to support these in our consultation on the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
	When we published that expectation, it was on the basis of the policy and evidence consulted on at the time, and we projected that 204,000 installations would be as a result of the RHI by 2020-21.
	We are currently updating our baseline figures in light of consultation responses and new evidence we have collected, and as a result of the changes we have made to the timetable for implementing changes to the RHI. We are intending to publish our updated view of the projected number of installations, including those that are adopted as a result of the RHI, this summer.
	Part L of the Building Regulations sets minimum energy performance standards, but does not prescribe specific technologies or heating fuels. The Government is committed to progressively strengthening Part L emissions targets as part of its commitment to Zero Carbon Homes from 2016. Home builders will increasingly need to install low or zero carbon energy sources such, as heat pumps, to meet these higher standards.

Heating

Martin Caton: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many heat pumps he expects to be installed in homes by March 2015 as a result of the introduction of the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Gregory Barker: The most recently published expectation is that 16,000 heat pumps will be installed in homes by the end of 2014-15.
	This figure refers to air-to-water and ground-source heat pumps only; it does not include air-to-air heat pumps, as we did not propose to support these in our consultation on the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
	When we published our projections, we estimated that 3,000 installations would be as a result of support from the RHI by 2014-15. However, we are currently updating our baseline figures in light of consultation responses and new evidence we have collected, and as a result of the changes we have made to the timetable for implementing changes to the RHI. We are intending to publish our updated view of the projected number of installations, including those that are adopted as a result of the RHI, this summer.

Natural Gas: Bedfordshire

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many and what proportion of homes in Mid Bedfordshire do not have access to the gas network.

Michael Fallon: The exact number of homes that do not have access to the gas network is not held centrally.
	Estimates have been produced based on information from the Gemserv database on the location of electricity meters, and data from xoserve and independent gas transporters on the location of gas meters, which are used to produce the Department’s sub-national energy statistics. Subtracting the number of gas meters from the number of electricity meters produces a broad estimate of the number of homes that do not have access to the gas network. It should be noted that these estimates will overestimate the number of homes due to some homes having more than one meter, and also that the statistics may include non-domestic meters.
	It is estimated that, for 2011, 14,000 homes in the Central Bedfordshire local authority and 11,600 homes in Bedford local authority did not have access to the gas network; this represents 12.9% and 17.1% of homes in those areas respectively.

Natural Gas: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many and what proportion of homes in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire do not have access to the gas network.

Michael Fallon: The exact number of households off the gas grid is not held centrally.
	Estimates have been produced based on information held from two administrative sources; these are the Gemserv database on the location of electricity meters, and data from xoserve and independent gas transporters on the location of gas meters. Subtracting the number of gas meters from the number of electricity meters produces a broad estimate of the number of off grid properties.
	However some households can have more than one electricity meter associated with their property (for instance, a supply for communal facilities such as stairwell lighting or a lift). Additionally, the standard gas industry definition of domestic use uses a consumption threshold, with any consumer using less than 73,200 kWh of gas per year being classed as a domestic user; it is estimated that—Great Britain-wide—this definition allocates around 2 million small business users as domestic. Furthermore a small number of meters (less than one third of one percent) do not have sufficient information associated with them to be able to allocate them to a specific area.
	The underlying data on the number of gas and electricity meters in each local authority are available on the Departments website:
	www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/regional/electricity/electricity.aspx
	www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/regional/gas/gas.aspx
	The following table shows, for 2011, the number of domestic electricity meter points, the number of gas meter points where consumption was less than 73,200kWh, and the difference between the two figures, which forms an estimate of the number of households off the gas grid for each local authority within Lancashire. Also provided are the consumption values for the local authority of Pendle, which covers the same area as the parliamentary constituency of Pendle. A table listing similar data for all local authorities in available in the Libraries of the House.
	The estimated number of households off the gas grid in Pendle is 1,500; in Lancashire as a whole the estimated number is 51,500.
	
		
			 Estimated number of households off the gas grid in Lancashire (2011) 
			 ONS code LAU1 code LAU1 area Number of domestic electricity meters (thousand) Number of domestic gas meters (thousand) Estimated number of households off the gas grid (thousand) Estimated percentage of households off the gas grid 
			 30UJ UKD4306 Pendle 39.4 37.9 1.5 4 
			 Total Lancashire — — 643.9 592.4 51.5 8

Nuclear Power Stations

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of (a) inward investment in England and Wales by (i) region, (ii) value added and (iii) gross domestic product and (b) new jobs created (i) in total and (ii) by region arising from the development of all the sites identified by the Government for the establishment of new nuclear power stations.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 18 April 2013
	Industry has set out plans to develop approximately 16 GW of new nuclear power in the UK. Independent analysis for Government of the potential economic benefit of improving the UK's nuclear supply chain capabilities was published alongside the Nuclear Industrial Strategy in March 2013. The report provides an assessment of a range of potential levels of domestic content within indicative new nuclear programmes with installed capacity of 10 GW and 16 GW by 2030, and at the UK level, sets out the estimated gross and net impacts on output, gross value added and employment. The report does not provide estimates at the UK regional level. The full report is available from website of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economic-benefit-of-improving-the-uks-nuclear-supply-chain-capabilities

Nuclear Power Stations

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when the nuclear energy strike price negotiations between EDF and his Department began; and when he expects them to conclude.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 18 April 2013
	Formal negotiations with NNB GenCo (a subsidiary of EDF) began in February 2013 following NNB's request in March 2012 to take part in the final investment decision (FID) enabling process. The negotiations remain on-going. Any deal reached would have to be fair, affordable and value for money.

Nuclear Power Stations

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether the Government is liable to reimburse EDF for any part of its £1 billion investment in Sizewell in the event of failure to reach agreement on the strike price for nuclear energy; and what estimate he has made of the potential cost of this liability to the public purse.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 18 April 2013
	The negotiations between the Government and NNB GenCo (a subsidiary of EDF) on the Hinkley Point C project are progressing on a no commitments basis. No agreement has been reached on terms. Development costs incurred are at EDF's own risk.

Official Gifts

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change which ministerial gifts (a) he and (b) his ministerial colleagues have chosen to keep since May 2010.

Gregory Barker: holding answer 22 April 2013
	Details of ministerial gifts are published on the Government website:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/accesstoinform/registers/registers.aspx

Radioactive Materials

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on which occasions since May 2010 nuclear material has been withdrawn from safeguards under the provisions of article 14 of the 1977 trilateral safeguards agreement between the UK, Euratom and the International Atomic Energy Agency; at which facility each such withdrawal took place; what the (a) type and (b) quantity of nuclear material was in each case; and for what reasons each withdrawal from the safeguards took place.

Michael Fallon: Information on nuclear material withdrawn from safeguards is available on the Office for Nuclear Regulation website at
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/safeguards/withdrawals.htm
	in the same format as in the paper provided to Parliament on 28 July 2000, Official Report, column 1094W, and in the written answer to Parliament on 1 March 2001, Official Report, columns 732-33W. The website provides annual reports on withdrawals from 2001 to 2012. Information on the facility from which the material was withdrawn was provided in the annual reports up to 2008, but is no longer given for security reasons. In 2013, the notifications received to date are as follows:
	
		
			 Summary of notifications of withdrawals from safeguards (2013, year to date) 
			 Number of withdrawal notifications (by type of nuclear material involved) Reason for withdrawal 
			 Two notifications involving plutonium (Pu), microgrammes quantities Two notifications for use in analysis/analytical purposes (eg samples, standards/tracers and/or in instrument calibration) from organisations that provides standards/tracers and/or nuclear material for instrument calibration(1). One notification also involved mg quantities of depleted uranium(1). 
			 Two notification involving high enriched uranium (HEU), total ~ 1.8 g One notification for material contained in radiation detectors(1) (from a company that manufactures radiation detectors); one notification for use in analysis/analytical purposes (eg samples, standards/tracers and in instrument calibration)(1) which also involved mg quantities of depleted uranium. 
			 Eight notifications involving depleted uranium (DU), total ~ 278 kg and one notification involving natural uranium (NU), total ~ 0.5 kg Eight notifications for depleted uranium as shielding containers(2); one notification for natural uranium for use in analysis/analytical purposes (eg samples, standards/tracers and in instrument calibration)(1). 
			 (1) There are no facilities outside safeguards that have material in such quantities and forms, and defence establishment requirements for these specialist materials have therefore been met by supply from civil organisations. (2) The advance notifications of withdrawal for depleted uranium shielded containers were for temporary withdrawals, the containers being used during the replacement of spent radioactive sources at UK defence establishments. Note: Tabulated information covers advance notifications of withdrawal approved by ONR—Safeguards.

Renewable Energy

Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that independent renewable energy generators are not disadvantaged compared to the larger utilities following implementation of the provisions of the Energy Bill.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 22 April 2013
	In order to meet our energy and climate change commitments, we need to attract significant investment in electricity generation and transmission. The Energy Bill sets out provisions to secure this investment.
	The Government are committed to supporting investment by independent renewable generators. Independent developers have played an important role in delivering new renewable capacity and we expect them to continue to make a material contribution to delivering investment and meeting our targets.
	By removing wholesale price risk, the contracts for difference proposed in the Energy Bill will improve conditions in the market for long-term power purchase agreements needed by many independent renewable developers and consequently provide an improved route to market.
	The Government have been working closely with independent renewables developers and has started a process to ensure that the market is ready for the introduction of the CfD, which will smooth the transition to the new arrangements.
	We are taking powers in the Energy Bill that would enable the Secretary of State to make changes to supply licence conditions if necessary. Furthermore, we are also considering whether additional steps are necessary including consideration of proposals for a Green Power Auction Market.

Renewable Energy

Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what evidence his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on whether the long-term power purchase agreement market will improve following the introduction of contracts for difference.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 22 April 2013
	Viable power purchase agreements are expected to continue to play an important role in ensuring that independent generators can participate in the energy market. Last year we issued a call for evidence to investigate concerns raised by independent generators and published a response to the call for evidence alongside the Energy Bill in November. This concluded that there are some temporary issues that should improve under contracts for difference but that there are remaining concerns over barriers to entry into the market and long-term uncertainties over imbalance costs.
	We have commissioned further analysis to consider the potential impacts of these remaining concerns, the initial outputs of which were discussed with stakeholders at a workshop on 12 April. Conclusions will be presented in the coming weeks and will be published on the DECC website.

Renewable Energy

Robert Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what powers he is considering taking to intervene should the long-term power purchase agreement market not improve under contracts for difference for independent renewable energy generators.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 22 April 2013
	By removing wholesale price risk, contracts for difference will improve conditions in the market for power purchase agreements and consequently provide a better route to market for independent renewable energy generators.
	However, the importance of independent generators is such that it is necessary to take powers in the Energy Bill to give Government the flexibility to act in the case that the market does not develop as expected, or if further steps are needed to improve access for independent renewable generators.
	The powers in the Energy Bill would enable the Government to change supply licence conditions, potentially mandating the way that the large energy companies contract with independent generators.

Renewable Energy

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many tonnes of carbon dioxide were displaced by renewable electricity generation in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales in 2012.

Gregory Barker: The following table shows how many tonnes of carbon dioxide were displaced by renewable electricity generation in 2011, the latest year for which the carbon dioxide per GWh of electricity supplied measure is available. To note this measure is calculated for the UK as a whole. Data for 2012 will be available on 25 July 2013.
	
		
			  Renewable electricity generation in 2011 (GWh) Average tonnes of carbon dioxide per GWh of electricity supplied by fossil fuels (UK) in 2011 Thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide displaced by renewable electricity generation in 2011 
			 England 17,499 609 10,655 
			 Scotland 13,753 609 8,374 
			 Wales 2,163 609 1,317 
			 UK 34,410 609 20,952 
			 Sources: Renewable electricity generation by UK country, from Energy Trends table ET 6.1, available at: http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewables-section-6-energy-trends Tonnes of carbon dioxide per GWh of electricity supplied by fossil fuels (UK) in 2011 from table 5A, page 124, chapter 5, of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2012, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-energy-climate-change/series/electricity-statistics

Wind Power

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many accidents related to wind turbines have been recorded by his Department in the last three years.

Michael Fallon: Neither DECC, nor the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), collect specific data for wind turbine accidents.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the energy output performance of offshore wind turbines.

Michael Fallon: The energy output performance of offshore wind turbines can be measured in terms of annual generation and load factors. These can be found in tables 6.4 and 6.5 of the Digest of UK Energy Statistics, available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships in (a) Barnsley Central constituency, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England completed in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012 have led to a permanent job.

Matthew Hancock: We do not collect data which allow us to answer the specific questions.
	However, we do have relevant data from a survey of apprentices (published 15 May 2012) which show that 85% of apprentices who completed their apprenticeship in the last 12 months were employed by an employer at the time of the survey, with a further 4% being self-employed and a further 3% in education.
	We are not able to break these findings down by electoral constituency or by sub regions (such as South Yorkshire) as the survey is not large enough to do this robustly.
	We do have data for Yorkshire and the Humber which showed that 88% of apprentices who completed within the last 12 months were employed by an employer with a further 4% being self-employed at the time of the survey.
	The numbers of apprenticeship starts in Barnsley Central have increased from 750 in 2009/10 to 1,320 in 2011/12.

Business: Ethnic Groups

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress the Government have made in completing its review of access to finance for people from black and minority ethnic communities; when he expects that review to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister commissioned the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to lead a cross-Government review into the barriers being faced by ethnic minority businesses in accessing finance in November 2011.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ contribution has included work with ethnic minority business groups and stakeholders in the wider banking sector as part of the process of assembling robust analysis and evidence to underpin DCLG's review. The review will be published shortly.

Copyright

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the Government's proposed exception to copyright for private copying will apply to audiovisual works which may be protected by technological protection measures.

Jo Swinson: The Government's proposed exception to copyright for the purposes of private copying will apply to ail types of copyright work, including audiovisual works. Where a technological protection measure has been applied to a work, the provisions that prohibit circumvention of such measures will apply, as will the remedies where an effective technological measure prevents a permitted act. The Government are currently preparing draft regulations which will implement this exception. It will be inviting comments from all interested parties when these are made available for technical review later in the year.

Copyright

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether the circumvention of technological protection measures will be permitted in the event that a notice of complaint is received as a result of the proposed exception to copyright for private copying (a) if a commercial digital offering with secure copies is available and (b) in any other circumstances.

Jo Swinson: The circumvention of effective technological protection measures is explicitly prohibited by EU Directive 2001/29/EC and this is reflected by the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. This will not change as a result of introducing any private copying exception.

Copyright

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of whether (a) the proposed exception to copyright for private copying will apply to legally downloaded audiovisual works and (b) this conforms with Article 6(4)—(4) of the EU Copyright Directive in light of the definition of on-demand services provided in Chapter 1 (B)—(6) of the explanatory memorandum to that directive.

Jo Swinson: The proposed exception would apply to all types of copyright work, including audiovisual works. Section 296ZE(9) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 implements Article 6(4)(4) of the EU Copyright Directive, and is closely modelled on the wording of that directive. Section 2962E(9) applies to the UK's existing copyright exceptions and will apply to any new private copying exception. The Government are currently preparing draft regulations which will implement this exception in accordance with all relevant EU law, including the EU Copyright Directive. The draft regulations will be made available publicly for technical review later in the year.

Copyright

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of whether the inclusion of cloud services within the scope of the proposed exception to copyright for private copying conforms with the three-step test set out in article 5.5 of the EU copyright directive.

Jo Swinson: The Government believes all its proposed measures on copyright exceptions, including the inclusion of cloud storage within the scope of the exception for private copying, will be compatible with the three-step test as set out in article 5.5 of the EU copyright directive. The Government are currently preparing draft regulations and will ensure that these conform with its international obligations, including the three step test. Draft regulations will be made available publicly for technical review later in the year.

Copyright

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has received legal advice on the potential use of the European Communities Act 1972 to implement new exceptions to copyright via secondary legislation.

Jo Swinson: The use of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 has been the subject of a number of decisions by the courts, including in relation to intellectual property. In the light of these decisions, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills considers that the use of section 2(2) is appropriate to adjust the copyright exceptions contained in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the implications of his Department's impact assessment on the proposed repeal of Section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 for its argument that repeal will increase creativity.

Jo Swinson: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has made no such assessment.
	The Impact Assessment in question was assessed by the Regulatory Policy Committee as fit for purpose.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take to ensure that his Department's management of the repeal of Section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 is conducted in a sympathetic and fair way;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of whether a long commencement period will be necessary to allow replica manufacturers, distributors and retailers to adjust and clear existing stock in relation to the repeal of Section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Jo Swinson: The Government will consult on how and when to implement the repeal of the section in question. The decisions required will be made in accordance with relevant best practice, and will take into account the impact on those affected.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received from rights holders pressing for early implementation of Section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Jo Swinson: The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my right hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), has received no such representations.

Dementia

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has a dementia strategy.

David Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) actively contributes to the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge and provides support for the Government's strategic approach through the Research Councils and Technology Strategy Board (TSB).
	The Medical Research Council (MRC) is the lead agency for relevant biomedical research, with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) supporting relevant socio-economic research. The MRC led the development of the UK's dementia research priorities as published by the Ministerial Advisory Group on Dementia Research (MAGDR) in 2011, which underpins the work of the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge Research Champions' Group.
	The MRC works closely with the Department of Health and the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), as well as the Wellcome Trust and the research charities Alzheimer's Research UK and the Alzheimer's Society, in delivering a strategic approach in this area.
	The MRC is also a leading player in the pan-EU Joint Programme in Neurodegeneration Research (JPND), which is the largest global research initiative aimed at tackling the challenge of dementia.
	A progress report on the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge was published in November 2012 and contains full details of the Research Councils' work in this area. It can be downloaded from:
	http://dementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk/2012/11/08/report-on-progress/
	Highlights of this work include the MRC, ESRC and the Department of Health's NIHR committing to increase funding for research into dementia from £26.6 million in 2009/10 to an estimated £66.3 million in 2014/15.
	Most recently, MRC has announced a £6 million stratified medicine initiative in the dementias, which aims to build a national platform to support experimental medicine for the development of new therapeutic approaches, as well as providing a vehicle for partnership with the biopharma sector. Funding decisions will be announced in the later part of 2013.

Employee Ownership

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what date he expects the Institute for Employee Ownership to be operational; and what deadlines and benchmarks he has set for that process.

Jo Swinson: The Government accepted Graeme Nuttall's recommendation that key organisations from the employee ownership and co-operatives sectors should develop and deliver an independent Institute. For the Institute to be successful it must, among other things, have cross-sector support and be economically self-sustaining. The Government will consider next steps once we receive a detailed business plan from industry.

Energy: Bedfordshire

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the current value of the energy sector to the economy of Mid Bedfordshire; and what he estimates the value of the energy sector to the economy of Mid Bedfordshire to be in (a) 2018 and (b) 2023.

Michael Fallon: There are no Government forecasts of the value of individual industrial sectors and financial estimates for the energy sector (here defined as the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning) are not collected at this level of detail.
	Statistics covering Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire shows that in 2010 the energy sector contributed £188 million Gross Vale Added (0.5% of the total for the area) and provided around 1,000 jobs (around 0.1% of the total for the area).

Engineering: North Africa

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has to showcase British industrial engineering products at trade fairs in (a) Morocco, (b) Tunisia, (c) Libya and (d) Algeria.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is the part of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills tasked with supporting UK-based firms internationally. UKTI's Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP) supports UK-based firms participating at trade fairs worldwide. For the four countries listed, TAP 2013/14 currently includes one industrial trade fair: National Electronics Week North Africa in Tunisia. However, individual companies may be assisted at trade fairs not in the programme, and the events list is kept under regular review. UKTI provides a broad range of other assistance to companies.

Export Controls: India

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to engage with those businesses refused export licences to India on account of issues related to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Michael Fallon: Officials of the Export Control Organisation (ECO) within BIS, which is the licensing authority for strategic exports in the United Kingdom, are always willing to establish a dialogue with exporters on the export control process in order to understand the particular concerns of exporters.
	ECO works closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to understand the commercial and diplomatic effect of decisions to refuse licences.

Exports: Mauritania

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the level of UK exports to Mauritania was in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Michael Fallon: Data on UK exports of goods to Mauritania are published by HM Revenue and Customs in their ‘Overseas Trade Statistics’ publication on:
	www.uktradeinfo.com
	Data on UK exports of services to Mauritania are published by the Office for National Statistics in their ‘UK Balance of Payments 2012’ (Pink Book) publication (Table 9.13) at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bop/united-kingdom-balance-of-payments/2012/index.html
	Latest data are for 2011. Data for 2012 are due for release on 31 July 2013.

Exports: Morocco

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the financial value was of British exports to Morocco in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Michael Fallon: Data on UK exports of goods and services to Morocco are published by the Office for National Statistics in their UK Balance of Payments 2012 (Pink Book) publication (Table 9.3) at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bop/united-kingdom-balance-of-payments/2012/index.html
	Latest data are for 2011. Data for 2012 are due on 31 July 2013.

Exports: Russia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the financial value of exports to Russia was in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Michael Fallon: Exports to Russia from the UK in 2011 and 2012 can be found in the Office for National Statistics ‘Economic Accounts Q4 2012’ publication (Table B6B):
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa1-rd/united-kingdom-economic-accounts/q4-2012/bod-ukea-2012q4.pdf

Exports: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of UKTI (West Midlands) in assisting Shrewsbury businesses to export in each of the last three years.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 22 April 2013
	UKTI does not evaluate the support provided on a sub regional basis. The PIMS (Performance and Impact Monitoring) Survey assesses performance by UKTI in the whole of the West Midlands. In two recent surveys over 90% of companies gave the quality of supported they received at least 4 marks out of 5 and 68% of companies said the support received will help them improve their business performance.
	UKTI's team based in Shropshire has significantly assisted on average 46 companies based in Shrewsbury per year in the last three years.

Insolvency: Ethnic Groups

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the number and rate of (a) business deaths and (b) insolvencies of black and ethnic minority businesses from November 2011 to date.

Jo Swinson: Figures are not available at the level of detail requested.
	The Office for National Statistics publishes statistics on business demography. This data include total numbers and rates of business deaths, but do not include information on ethnicity. The latest annual release of business demography is available at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/bus-register/business-demography/2011/index.html
	The Insolvency Service publishes statistics on company insolvencies and business bankruptcies. These data are not broken down by ethnicity. The latest quarterly Official Statistics for insolvency are available here:
	http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/otherinformation/statistics/insolvency-statistics.htm

Manufacturing Industries

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of manufacturing activity in (a) Coventry, (b) the west midlands and (c) England; and what assessment he has made of future capacity in that sector.

Michael Fallon: The following table lists the contribution of manufacturing to employment and gross value added (GVA) for the west midlands and England and employment for Coventry. Estimates of GVA are not collected in sufficient detail to report on manufacturing in Coventry. GVA figures for 2011 are not yet available.
	
		
			  2010 2011 
			  GVA (£billion) % area GVA Employment (thousand) % area employment 
			 Coventry — — 14 10.2 
			 West midlands 3.5 15.4 282 11.7 
			 England 116.9 10.6 2,045 8.5 
			 Sources: Business Register Employment Survey, Regional GVA (both ONS) 
		
	
	Forecasts for manufacturing capacity are not available from official sources.

Medicine: Research

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) average funding award and (b) average length of project supported through the Technology Strategy Board Biomedical Catalyst scheme allocation has been for (i) feasibility awards, (ii) early stage awards and (iii) late stage awards to date.

David Willetts: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The average funding award and average project length for Technology Strategy Board supported projects under the Biomedical Catalyst scheme are as follows:
	
		
			  Feasibility Awards Early Stage Awards Late Stage Awards 
			 Average grant award £133,000 £1.5 million £1.5 million 
			 Average duration (months) 10.7 27 26.3 
		
	
	These figures reflect Rounds 1, 2 and 3 for the Feasibility Awards and Rounds 1 and 2 for the Early and Late Stage Awards. Round 3 Early and Late Stage proposals are currently under assessment and awards will be announced by the Technology Strategy Board in July 2013. These figures include Medical Research Council co-funding of academic collaborators in projects.

Medicine: Research

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  if he will publish a list of Biomedical Catalyst award winners in each therapeutic area to date;
	(2)  if he will publish a list of all Biomedical Catalyst award winners to date in each parliamentary constituency.

David Willetts: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The information requested by the hon. Member will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Medicine: Research

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding has been awarded through the Biomedical Catalyst scheme through (a) the Technology Strategy Board and (b) the Medical Research Council to date, by (i) feasibility awards, (ii) early stage awards and (iii) late stage awards.

David Willetts: holding answer 22 April 2013
	In total the Biomedical Catalyst scheme has committed £98.51 million to date of which the Technology Strategy Board committed £64.5 million and the Medical Research Council £34.01 million. Breakdown by Feasibility, Early Stage Award and Late Stage Award is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Technology Strategy Board Medical Research Council 
			 Feasibility Awards 8 7.41 
			 Early Stage Awards 41.2 20.9 
			 Late Stage Awards 15.3 5.7

Non-domestic Rates

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which 100 towns in the UK experienced the biggest fall in the collection of business rates in the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	Only nine local authorities in England reported their contribution to the national non-domestic rates pool fell over the period 2006-07 to 2011-12. The authorities were Bassetlaw. Corby, Harborough, Redcar and Cleveland, Rushcliffe, Selby, Suffolk Coastal, Vale of White Horse and West Somerset.
	The contribution to the national non-domestic rates pool figures were as reported by all billing authorities in England on their annual national non-domestic rates returns i.e. the local list. Contributions from the central list e.g. railways, communication networks, and utilities, were not included.
	The figures used reflected both the non-domestic rates collected in respect of the year in question but also changes in respect of previous years. This could be either the payment of arrears or the repayment of overpayments in respect of previous years.
	In addition, because the data span a range of years, they are not strictly comparable.
	Year-on-year changes reflect a number of factors such as:
	changes in the rate base;
	the Retail Price Index adjustment to annual bills; and
	variations in levels of relief granted.
	Following the introduction of business rates retention in April 2013, any authority experiencing a decline in business rates of more than 7.5% will be eligible for support from the safety net, ensuring that no authority's income within the business rates scheme will drop below 92.5% of its baseline funding level.
	The figures used in the answer take into consideration the creation of nine unitary authorities on 1 April 2009 from 37 shire district authorities.

Overseas Trade: BRIC Countries

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the value was of (a) imports from and (b) exports to (i) Brazil, (ii) Russia, (iii) India and (iv) China in each of the last five years; and what the value of each was as a proportion of total UK imports and exports in each such year.

Michael Fallon: The information is tabled as follows:
	
		
			 Table 1: UK exports of goods and services to the BRICs 
			 £ million 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Brazil 2,337 2,540 3,134 3,768 3,625 
			 Russia 6,503 4,295 5,285 7,192 7,350 
			 India 5,934 4,678 6,208 8,339 6,964 
			 China 7,633 7,626 10,332 12,518 13,444 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: UK exports of goods and services to the BRICs 
			 Percentage of total UK exports 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Brazil 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.7 
			 Russia 1.5 1.1 1.2 1.5 1.5 
			 India 1.4 1.2 1.4 1.7 1.4 
			 China 1.8 1.9 2.3 2.5 2.8 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: UK imports of goods and services from the BRICs 
			 £ million 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Brazil 2,998 2,891 3,550 3,126 2,912 
			 Russia 8,061 5,934 6,283 8,445 9,501 
			 India 6,795 6,571 8,288 8,719 8,816 
			 China 24,767 25,798 31,841 32,801 32,721 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 4: UK imports of goods and services from the BRICs 
			 Percentage of total UK imports 
			  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Brazil 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6 
			 Russia 1.7 1.4 1.3 1.6 1.8 
			 India 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.7 
			 China 5.4 6.1 6.6 6.3 6.2 
			 Source: ONS United Kingdom Economic Accounts 2012Q4.

Post Offices

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much investment his Department has made in the Post Office network in each of the last 15 years.

Jo Swinson: This Government have committed £1.34 billion over the course of this Parliament to maintain and modernise the Post Office network. As this funding has been publicly announced, this answer provides details for the last 15 financial years (1999/2000 to 2013/14) and also the additional year 2014/15 to the end of the current spending review period.
	Over the period 1999/2000 to 2014/15 the Government will have provided £3.52 billion to restructure, maintain and modernise the network. The following table sets out the payments made to Post Office Ltd for these purposes since 1999/2000. It includes compensation payments to around 5,000 sub-postmasters whose post offices were closed under the closure programmes of the previous Administration.
	The ongoing Network Transformation programme introduces new operating Models—Main and Local—that will help place the Post Office network on a more financially sustainable footing for the future, and reduce its reliance on public subsidy.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  Network subsidy payment Urban reinvention Network change Network transformation Other 
			 2014/15 160 — — 585 — 
			 2013/14 200 — — (1)— — 
			 2012/13 210 — — (1)— — 
			 2011/12 180 — — — — 
			 2010/11 150 — — — — 
			 2009/10 150 — 465 — — 
			 2008/09 150 180 (1)— — — 
			 2007/08 150 (1)— (1)— — — 
			 2006/07 150 (1)— — — — 
			 2005/06 150 (1)— — — — 
			 2004/05 150 (1)— — — 2 
			 2003/04 150 (1)— — — (1)— 
			 2002/03 — — — — (1)— 
			 2001/02 — — — — — 
			 2000/01 — — — — — 
			 1999/2000 — — — — 500 
			 Total 1,790 180 465 585 502 
			 (1) Indicates brace

Redundancy Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible received payments under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each such year.

Jo Swinson: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was created on 5 June 2009 via a merger of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) which ceased to exist from that date. Data on the number and cost of exits under any schemes have been provided from this date.
	
		
			  2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 
			  No. of exits Cost (£) No. of exits Cost (£) No. of exits Cost (£) 
			 BIS—Main Department 237 15,052,792 329 27,169,651 (1)-— (1)-— 
			 BIS—Agencies 67 1,700,971 470 17,257,276 (1)-— (1)-— 
			 BIS—NDPBs 1622 38,840,023 1264 46,798,849 (1)-— (1)-— 
			 Total 1926 55,593,786 2063 91,225,776 35 3,918,988 
			 (1) Prior to 2010-11 only a single consolidated figure was collected and published so a break down of which organisations exits were from is unavailable. Source: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Annual Report and Accounts 2010-11 
		
	
	Data for 2012-13 will be published as part of this year’s Annual Report and Accounts. The civil service compensation scheme was reformed in December 2010. Under the previous terms there could be costs extending for up to 10 years after a departure. The revised terms mean all of the costs now fall within the year of departure. The National Audit Office have estimated that the changes have reduced exit costs by around 40-50% across the whole of the scheme compared to the previous terms. The reformed scheme allows for greater distinction between voluntary and compulsory exits and is designed to encourage voluntary rather than compulsory departures.
	These exit schemes have supported restructuring both within the core Department and BIS partner organisations which will deliver long-term savings.

Regulatory Policy Committee

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Regulatory Policy Committee in the context of its lack of enforcement powers in respect of proposed legislation.

Michael Fallon: The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) provides external and independent challenge on the evidence and analysis presented in Impact Assessments supporting the development of new regulatory measures proposed by the Government. The RPC publishes regular reports setting out how it is fulfilling this role and the effect it is having.
	Since the start of 2011, there have been nine occasions on which a Department has proceeded with a measure where the RPC has considered that the relevant Impact Assessment is not fit for purpose. Details of those measures, and the relevant opinions, can be found on the RPC website at:
	http://regulatorypolicycommittee.independent.gov.uk/

Technology and Innovation Centres

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2013, Official Report, column 993W, on technology and innovation centre, how many Catapult Technology and Innovation centres have reached stage two in their development to date.

David Willetts: Five Catapult centres have now reached stage 2 or 3 as set out in my previous answer. The remaining two centres have recently completed the appointment of high quality leadership teams and will reach stage 2 when the CEOs take office in June and August. The change in the timeline from my previous answer has been a result of the notice period required for the high calibre appointees identified for all Catapults.

Trade Promotion

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which hon. Members have been appointed as trade ambassadors by his Department.

Michael Fallon: The Prime Minister's Trade Envoy programme is designed to help promote trade in emerging and growth markets, beyond those already identified in the UKTI strategy. The Trade Envoys, prime focus is to showcase to SMEs in the UK foreign opportunities available in ‘their’ markets. Their role include participation in up to four UK-based activities and two overseas trips, which will enhance their credibility in the UK and deepen their knowledge of the country whose opportunities they are profiling.
	The current programme includes the following individuals:
	1. Baroness Bonham Carter of Yarnbury, Trade Envoy to Mexico.
	2. Baroness Morris of Bolton, Trade Envoy to Jordan, Kuwait, Palestinian Territories.
	3. Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
	4. Lord Risby of Haverhill, Trade Envoy to Algeria.
	5. Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Trade Envoy to South Africa.
	6. Lord Sharman of Redlynch, Trade Envoy to Morocco.
	7. Charles Hendry MP, Trade Envoy to Azerbajan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
	8. Richard Graham MP, Trade Envoy to Indonesia.

UK Research Partnership Investment Fund

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many bids for funding have been received under the second round of the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund.

David Willetts: In October 2012, the Government announced additional funding of £200 million for the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF), to add to £100 million provided in Budget 2012, to enable universities to lever in private sector and charity co-investment into long-term strategic research partnerships. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), working with counterparts in the devolved Administrations, is responsible for managing the Fund, for project assessment and all decisions on project selection. HEFCE issued a second call for new and reworked proposals which closed in February. Full details are available at:
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/year/2012/201231/#d.en.76055
	HEFCE will provide further details and announce a full list of successful projects in due course.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK Trade and Investment staff were stationed in Russia in (a) 2011 and (b) 2012.

Michael Fallon: There were 28 UK Trade and Investment staff directly employed by the FCO stationed in Russia throughout both 2011 and 2012.
	In addition, a portion of each Head of Mission's time in Russia is spent on UK Trade and Investment work.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK Trade and Investment staff were dismissed for underperformance in 2012.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is not an employer in its own right; for the majority of its human resource requirements it draws on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
	No UK-based individuals were dismissed for under- performance in 2012. If individuals are underperforming, they are helped to improve their performance through their parent Department's performance improvement measures prior to any dismissal procedures.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to ensure that every UK Trade and Investment staff member is vigorously scrutinised on a targets basis every quarter.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is not an employer in its own right and the majority of its staff are employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
	Under the performance management arrangements of the parent Departments, staff are required to set objectives which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic/relevant and time-bound (SMART). Managers hold mandatory mid and end of year performance reviews to determine whether staff are meeting their objectives, and they are encouraged to hold regular performance discussions with individuals throughout the year. If individuals are underperforming, they are helped to improve their performance through their parent Departments' performance improvement measures.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many UK Trade and Investment staff are posted in (a) Mauritania, (b) Morocco, (c) Algeria, (d) Tunisia, (e) Libya and (f) Egypt.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment full-time equivalent members of staff are posted as follows:
	
		
			  FTE staff 
			 Mauritania 0 
			 Morocco 5 
			 Algeria 3 
			 Tunisia 3 
			 Libya 8 
			 Egypt 10.6 
		
	
	In addition, a portion of each Head of Mission's time is spent on UK Trade and Investment work.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for UK Trade and Investment representation in Mauritania.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade and Investment regularly reviews the distribution of its available staff resource, but currently has no plans for representation in Mauritania.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what role performance-related pay plays in the remuneration of the chief executive of UK Trade and Investment.

Michael Fallon: UKTI is not an employer in its own right; for the majority of its human resource requirements it draws on civil service staff employed by one or other of its two parent Departments—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
	The chief executive of UKTI is a member of the senior civil service and is part of the normal performance and pay structure for senior civil servants which has been established by the Cabinet Office. The chief executive of UKTI is eligible for base pay increases and performance awards in line with the annual recommendations of the Senior Salaries Remuneration Body.

UK Trade and Investment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will list the names of UK Trade and Investment staff earning more than £100,000 per annum.

Jo Swinson: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) is committed to publishing senior staff data as part of the transparency agenda. UKTI information from these exercises is available on the following websites:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/transparency/staff
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-office-staff-and-salary-data
	We also publish the salaries of our Executive Team in the UKTI Annual Report and Accounts:
	http://www.ukti.gov.uk/uktihome/aboutukti/item/331780.html

Vocational Training

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether education and training provided through the Employer Ownership of Skills pilots will be inspected by Ofsted.

Matthew Hancock: Education and training provided through the Employer Ownership of Skills pilot is not directly part of Ofsted inspections.

Vocational Training

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what progress his Department has made in linking skills funding to job outcomes; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: I am keen to encourage skills providers to offer training which will help learners into employment. Since 2012-13, the Skills Funding Agency has paid skills providers a job outcome payment instead of a qualification achievement payment when an unemployed learner leaves a course early to take up employment.
	The Skills Funding Statement 2012-15, which was published in December 2012, set out a commitment to ensure there is an appropriate system for capturing information about job outcomes for unemployed learners in the months after their training finishes. Ensuring we have robust and reliable data will support any future policy development on outcome payments. This work is ongoing and we continue to work with partners to examine a range of methods and measurements.

Vocational Training

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding his Department paid out in total to skills initiatives across the UK in the latest period for which figures are available; which skills initiatives received such financial assistance; and how much was given to each.

Matthew Hancock: The Skills Funding Statement 2012-15, published on 6 December 2012, sets out the funding baseline for the Adult Skills Budget for 2012-13. Details can be found in the finance table of the document, on page 15, at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/further-education-skills/docs/s/12-p172-skills-funding-statement-2012-2015.pdf
	This funding relates to England. BIS does not hold details of UK-wide funding.

JUSTICE

Bill of Rights

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department has spent in developing a Bill of Rights to date.

Damian Green: The only costs the Ministry of Justice can directly attribute to work on considering the case for a Bill of Rights to date are those arising from the establishment and operation of the independent Commission on a Bill of Rights. The total cost of the Commission was approximately £700,000.

Driving Offences: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what revenue has accrued to the Exchequer from motoring fines collected in (a) Brigg and Goole constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. Information on the enforcement of financial penalties resulting from a conviction does not form part of the information held on the database.
	Financial penalties are imposed on offenders by the criminal courts at the point of sentencing, and include fines, prosecutors' costs, compensation orders and victim surcharges. HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) hold summary information on the enforcement of financial impositions (including total value of financial penalties collected), but it is not possible to separately identify the offence for which the financial impositions were originally imposed. Compiling these figures would be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Expert Evidence

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that expert witnesses are given sufficient time with prisoners to conduct interviews; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: Every effort will be made to accommodate the specific requirements of expert witnesses. The length of time allowed for visits is a discretionary matter for individual governors, taking into account operational constraints and security concerns.

Expert Evidence

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) psychiatric and (b) psychological interviews by expert witnesses with prisoners are conducted in the health care wing of prisons; and if he will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: Prison staff will always try to accommodate the needs of expert witnesses, ensuring that interviews with prisoners take place in suitable surroundings; the physical layout of prison buildings, and considerations relating to the operational management of prisoners, mean that it may not always be possible to hold interviews in prison health care departments.

Fireworks: Lancashire

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many fixed penalties were issued relating to the misuse of fireworks in (a) Pendle constituency and (b) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The number of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) issued to offenders aged 16 and over for offences related to the misuse of fireworks, in the Lancashire police force area, in each year between 2007 and 2011 (latest available) can be viewed in the table. These data are not available at parliamentary constituency level.
	Information on the use of PNDs in 2012 is planned for publication in the spring of 2013.
	
		
			 Number of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) issued to offenders aged 16 and over for offences related to the misuse of fireworks, in the Lancashire police force area, 2007 to 2011 
			  Year 
			 Offence 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 
			 Throwing fireworks(1) 25 19 4 15 5 
			 Breach of fireworks curfew(2) 1 1 0 3 0 
			 Possession of category 4 firework(2) 2 2 0 0 0 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of adult firework(2) 6 2 3 6 0 
			 (1) Offences under the Explosives Act 1875, S.80: Throwing, casting or firing any fireworks in or into any highway, street, public place etc. (2) Offences under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 under s11 of the Fireworks Act 2003. Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services within the Ministry of Justice

Human Trafficking

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Banbury of 14 February 2013, Official Report, column 866W, on human trafficking, for what reasons he considers the release of the requested information by local authority area to be a threat to victim safety.

Helen Grant: As set out in the inter-departmental ministerial group on human trafficking, published on 18 October 2012, the Government are focusing on improving their collection of data on human trafficking victims to strengthen the UK's response to this. The safety of identified victims is of the utmost importance and publishing further information which puts their rescue in jeopardy is unacceptable.
	Publishing information on the local authority area to which victims have been referred could allow the trafficker to locate them. Additionally it could put the safety of any victims still being held by the trafficker at risk.

Offenders: Fines

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the average cost per case of collecting fines from offenders who fail to comply with their payment plans since October 2012.

Helen Grant: It is not possible to identify how many or which enforcement actions have been carried out on each case without carrying out a manual review on all fine accounts, which would incur disproportionate cost. Therefore, an average cost cannot be calculated.

Office of the Public Guardian: Cumbria

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff are employed by the Office of the Public Guardian in Cumbria; and what proportion of such staff are paid at or above the relevant level of the living wage.

Helen Grant: The Office of the Public Guardian currently has no staff employed in Cumbria.

Prisons: Drugs

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on measures to support recovery in the treatment of opioid dependence in prisoners.

Jeremy Wright: The Government's cross-departmental drug strategy promotes the recovery of those dependent on drugs, including offenders. There are drug recovery wings in prison which offer specific support for offenders to recover from dependence. Ministers for Justice and Health are members of the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on Drugs which discusses progress on the strategy regularly.

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many offenders on supervision by the probation service had (a) mental health issues, (b) learning difficulties, (c) drug addictions or (d) alcohol dependencies in each year since 2008.

Jeremy Wright: The following table shows the number of instances in each financial year since 2008-09 where a full OASys assessment undertaken for an offender at the start of a community sentence, suspended sentence or period on licence supervised by the probation service has identified mental health issues, learning difficulties or criminogenic needs linked to drug or alcohol misuse.
	In the following table “Mental Health Issues” includes offenders assessed as having current psychological problems and/or current psychiatric issues.
	Information is provided on a financial year basis. The latest data available are for 2011-12.
	
		
			 Financial year Mental Health Issues Learning Difficulties Drug Misuse Need Alcohol Misuse Need 
			 2008-09 49,631 17,300 55,165 46,914 
			 2009-10 40,742 14,315 41,460 38,552 
			 2010-11 34,197 11,536 31,234 30,888 
			 2011-12 28,862 9,441 24,881 25,153 
		
	
	The above figures have been produced from data on completed OASys assessments, held centrally by the National Offender Management Service.
	A full OASys assessment is not required with all offenders. OASys data should not therefore be read as representative of the entire probation case load and care should be taken in generalising the results.
	The data are drawn from administrative IT systems and the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale assessment and recording system. Several quality assurance procedures are in place to ensure the data produced are accurate and reliable.

Sentencing: EU Nationals

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many EU but non-UK nationals received sentences of two or more years in each of the last five years in (a) Gloucester and (b) England; and how many such nationals were (i) recommended for deportation, (ii) deported and (iii) not deported.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. This database holds information on offences provided by the statutes under which proceedings are brought but not all the specific circumstances of each case. It is not possible to identify from this centrally held information the nationality of offenders given a custodial sentence following a conviction.
	Prison data held centrally do include the nationality of offenders, and the following table shows the number of non-UK EU nationals received into prison under sentence in England and Wales in 2008, 2009, 2011 and January to September 2012 (full calendar year 2012 data are not yet available; 2010 data are not available). However, it is not possible to break these figures down for (a) Gloucester and (b) England as offender address information is not held in this database.
	Under the Immigration Act 1971 the court retains the power to recommend deportation when conditions providing for automatic deportation specified in the UK Borders Act 2007 are not fulfilled. When the court makes a recommendation that the individual should be considered for deportation this is recorded on the relevant case management systems used in the magistrates and Crown courts. However, this information is not held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on either court proceedings or prison data.
	The Ministry of Justice does not keep records on foreign national criminals who are successfully deported or who were subject to deportation orders that were not successful. This is a matter for the Home Secretary.
	
		
			 Sentenced receptions of EU nationals by sentence length, January 2008 to September 2012(1), England and Wales 
			 Sentence length 2008 2009 2011 Jan to Sep 2012 
			 Two years or more 669 791 831 699 
			 (1) Data for 2010 not available. 
		
	
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Telephone Services

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 22 March 2013, Official Report, column 840W, on telephone services, whether a UK landline number beginning with 01, 02 or 03 is publicly available as an alternative to the 0800, 0844, 0845 and 0870 numbers in use by his Department and the agencies for which he is responsible.

Helen Grant: As stated in the Department's answer of 22 March 2013, Official Report, column 840W, the Department's general approach is not to use 084 or 087 for non-geographic numbers and instead, wherever possible, to assign 0300 numbers, for which the tariff is similar to calling an 01 or 02 (geographic) number, whether the caller is using a fixed line or a mobile phone. The Department currently uses 41 0300 numbers.
	Non-geographic numbers allow the Department to move the geographical location of enquiry-points without incurring associated telephony costs for administration, publication of new numbers, redirection from previous numbers, etc., and also avoiding possible disruption to services.
	There are no 01 02 or 03 numbers publicly available as an alternative to the 0800, 0844, 0845 and 0870 numbers in use by the Department and its agencies.

Youth Custody

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what criteria he used to calculate the cost allocated to local authorities in England and Wales for the remand of youths to care and custody from youth courts;
	(2)  how much his Department allocated to each local authority in England and Wales to cover the cost of youth remands to care and custody by youth courts in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 establishes a new framework for children remanded otherwise than on bail. This includes extending looked after child status to all children remanded to youth detention accommodation. It also gives local authorities greater financial responsibility for custodial remand budgets for 12-17 year olds. The joint Ministry of Justice and Youth Justice Board response to the consultation paper on allocation of new burdens funding to local authorities for the new remand framework for children explains how the budget to be transferred to each local authority in England and Wales has been calculated for 2013-14. This was published on 25 February 2013. Local authorities were notified of indicative budgets on the same day. These documents can both be found at:
	https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/remand-funding/
	The final budget is currently being signed off and we expect to notify local authorities of details and make payments by the end of April. The allocations will be made available alongside the consultation documents on the MoJ website.

Youth Offending Teams

Yvette Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice which areas in England and Wales have youth offending team gang forums.

Jeremy Wright: Regional gang forums are operating in six of the nine regions: London, the West Midlands, the East Midlands, the North West, Yorkshire and Humber (also covering the North East) and the South East. Forums in the South East, West and East Midlands are under review to see how they may be able to expand their membership and offer access to Wales, the South West and the Eastern regions. The forums generally meet quarterly focusing on improving information sharing and communication, and sharing effective practice.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Air Travel

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) non-departmental public body travelled on (i) domestic and (ii) international flights in each of the last five years; in which class categories; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest airfare charges in each such year.

Alan Duncan: The total costs recorded for flights by DFID (including its non-departmental public body) over the past four years are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009-10 7,291,791 
			 2010-11 4,298,014 
			 2011-12 5,805,827 
			 2012-13 5,394,408 
			 Total 22,790,041 
		
	
	We do not hold full details of flight costs within 2008-09, as the Department moved to a new financial system in this year, and travel costs were not fully split into detail codes to allow separation of flights from other expenses.
	Due to our current reporting structure, it is not possible to disaggregate costs between domestic and international or between different class categories.
	It is also not possible easily to extract the number of flights or top 20 costs without incurring disproportionate cost.

Developing Countries: Vaccination

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department has spent vaccinating children in the developing world since 2010; and how many vaccinations this amounts to.

Alan Duncan: DFID has spent over £500 million on direct support for vaccinating children in developing countries since 2010. This includes £122.9 million to the International Finance Facility for Immunisation; £18 million to the Measles Rubella Initiative (MRI); £120 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI); £182 million to the GAVI Alliance; and £62.3 million for the Pneumococcal Vaccines Advanced Market Commitment.
	Through our commitment to the GAVI Alliance alone, UK funding has supported the immunisation of over 20 million children in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, MRI vaccinated 48 million children against measles, 15 million of whom were vaccinated with UK funding. In 2012, GPEI supported more than 2 billion doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to be administered to more than 429 million children, 24 million of whom were reached through UK funding. The UK has also contributed to a number of emergency responses, for example the UK recently provided £1.8 million to the World Health Organisation appeal in order to contain the outbreak of yellow fever in Darfur, which helped 2 million people to be immunised.

Hotels

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in her (a) Department and (b) non-departmental public body stayed in hotels in (i) the UK and (ii) every other country during the last five years; at what total cost; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest such hotel expenses in each such year.

Alan Duncan: The total costs recorded for hotel expenses by DFID (including its non-departmental public body) over the past four years are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			 2009-10 2,374,006 
			 2010-11 2,152,652 
			 2011-12 2,782,987 
			 2012-13 3,347,391 
			 Total 10,657,040 
		
	
	We do not hold full details of hotel expenditure within 2008-09, as the Department moved to a new financial system in this year, and travel costs were not fully split into detail codes to allow separation of hotel costs from other expenses.
	Due to our current reporting structure, it is not possible to disaggregate costs as between the UK and non-UK.
	It is also not possible to easily extract the number of hotel stays or top 20 expenses without incurring disproportionate cost.

Official Hospitality

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public body for which she is responsible claimed reimbursements for working lunches and official entertainment in each of the last five years; and what the total cost was in each such year.

Alan Duncan: DFID's financial records do not enable identification of the number of officials claiming reimbursement for working lunches and official entertainment, without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The central finance records show the following levels of expenditure charged to entertainment and hospitality for the last five years. These include reimbursements and amounts paid directly to suppliers for costs associated with this category of expenditure.
	
		
			  Amount (£) 
			 2008-09 312,662.41 
			 2009-10 330,641.30 
			 2010-11 211,544.85 
			 2011-12 226,677.27 
			 2012-13 82,437.47

Redundancy Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many officials in (a) her Department and (b) the non-departmental public body for which she is responsible received payments under a voluntary exit scheme in each of the last five years; and at what total cost in each such year.

Alan Duncan: The table shows the number and costs of voluntary exits within DFID over the last five years. The figures for 2012-13 will be published as part of the Annual Report and Accounts. Voluntary exits include all non-compulsory paid departures.
	The compensation scheme was reformed in 2010 and all of the costs now fall within the year of departure, which differs from the previous scheme.
	
		
			  Number of departures Cost (£ million) 
			 2007-08 95 £7.315 
			 2008-09 17 £2.218 
			 2009-10 53 £4.479 
			 2010-11 37 £2.668 
			 2011-12 69 £3.486 
			 Note: The figures do not include exits by resignation. 
		
	
	There have been no voluntary exits in our non-departmental public bodies over this period.

Zambia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development under what programmes and category of expenditure UK aid to Zambia is spent.

Alan Duncan: DFID spends UK aid in Zambia on the following categories: wealth creation, governance and security, education, health, sanitation, and poverty, hunger and vulnerability. DFID's aid is delivered through a combination of commercial service providers, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and Government-related channels.

Zambia

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid from her Department was provided to Zambia in the latest year for which figures are available.

Alan Duncan: In financial year 2011-12, DFID's expenditure on aid to Zambia was £42,668,000.

EDUCATION

Absent Parents

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to re-establish contact between absent fathers and their children.

Edward Timpson: The Government are currently taking forward legislation, via the Children and Families Bill, to strengthen the expectation that children will maintain a relationship with both their parents following separation or divorce. One of the aims of the parental involvement clause in the Bill is to send a clear signal that parents remain jointly responsible for their children when families separate.
	We are also introducing a range of non-legislative measures to support separated parents in resolving disputes and reaching amicable agreements about their children's care. A package of support, which includes improved information, advice and targeted interventions such as mediation and parenting programmes, is currently being developed to help separated parents focus on the needs of their children and improve communication with their former partner. Parents will also receive support in completing a parenting agreement as part of the dispute resolution process. Parenting agreements will not be legally binding, but they will help parents to establish care arrangements which are practical, realistic and in the best interests of their children.

Academies: Homophobia

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what residual duties local authorities retain in relation to ensuring academy schools comply with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 and the public sector equality duty in relation to addressing homophobic bullying.

Edward Timpson: The Equality Act 2010 does not place any duties on local authorities to ensure that schools comply with their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. There is, therefore, no role for local authorities to ensure compliance for academies. Under the Equality Act, local authorities have a duty not to discriminate when carrying out their own education functions—such as organisation of schools and arranging admissions. The Equality Act clearly sets out the responsibilities on schools and academies in respect of the discrimination provisions and the equality duties, and they are responsible for ensuring their own compliance.

Apprentices

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to Table 3.1 of the report by the Young People's Learning Agency, Evaluation of the Young Apprenticeships Programme: Outcomes for cohort 3 (November 2010), what analysis has been undertaken on the destinations after year 11 of Young Apprenticeships participants in subsequent cohorts.

Matthew Hancock: In 2010, the Young Apprenticeships (YA) pilot was discontinued. The Department for Education and Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA) have commissioned no further quantitative evaluation of the pilot. The Cohort 3 report, published on the YPLA website in 2010, was considered a representative summary analysis of the outputs of the YA pilot over its lifetime.

Apprentices

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many apprentices are employed by his Department in his ministerial private office.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 22 April 2013
	One apprentice is employed in the ministerial private office of the Secretary of State.

Children in Care: Protection

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether it is a requirement that enhanced disclosure checks are carried out on any adult male who offers a home to a child in the care of a local authority; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will provide guidelines to chief constables on the responsibilities and assessment process of older men who offer accommodation to young girls in the care system; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: A person who looks after a child in the care of a local authority within their own home must be approved as a foster carer (unless they have parental responsibility for the child). Before a fostering service may approve a person of any sex as a foster carer, they must obtain an enhanced disclosure check with respect to that person and any of their household members aged 18 or over.
	There are no guidelines to chief constables on the responsibilities and assessment process of older men who accommodate young girls within the care system. This is because the assessment, approval, supervision and development of foster carers are the responsibility of fostering services, rather than the constabulary. The assessment and approval of foster carers of any age or sex in England are regulated by the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011. In Wales they are regulated by the Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003.

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what academic advice his Department has commissioned on childcare since January 2011; and if he will place in the Library copies of any such reports.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education has commissioned the following research studies on childcare since January 2011:
	(1) Grandparents Providing Childcare—a review of research evidence and statistical data on grandparents providing childcare. This review was carried out by the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre and a report was published in November 2011.
	(2) International Comparison of Qualifications and Training Required for Entry into the Early Years Profession. This rapid review of evidence was carried out by the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library.
	(3) The Costs of Childcare—analysis of the current comparative international literature and data on the affordability of childcare to parents. This review was carried out by the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library upon publication.
	(4) A comparison of international childcare systems. This review was carried out by the Centre for Research in Early Childhood. A copy of the report will be placed in the Library upon publication.
	(5) Parent's views and experiences of childcare—a survey of parents to inform the commission on childcare. This survey was undertaken by IPSOS MORI. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library upon publication.
	(6) Childcare sufficiency and sustainability in disadvantaged areas. This research was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research and was published in December 2012.
	(7) Exploring the flexibility of the free entitlement. This research was undertaken by IPSOS MORI and was published in June 2012.
	(8) Childcare Provider Finances Survey. This research was undertaken by TNS-BMRB and was published in May 2012.
	(9) Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents. This research is undertaken by IPSOS MORI and the 2011 survey was published on 31st January 2013.
	(10) Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey. This research is undertaken by TNS-BMRB and the latest 2011 survey was published in September 2012.
	(11) Early Education Pilot for Two Year Old Children: Age Five Follow-up. This research is undertaken by the National Centre for Social Research and was published in March 2013.
	(12) Evaluation of Early Education in England. This research will provide an assessment of the effectiveness of the current early education model in England, updating evidence from the highly influential Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) study from 1997. A copy of this report will be placed in the Library upon publication.
	Copies of the above research reports which have been published will be placed in the House Library. Reports not yet published will be placed in the House Library upon publication. In addition, a number of other organisations undertook activities to support and inform the work of the commission, including the National Day Nurseries Association, The Daycare Trust, 4Children, Netmums, and the National Children's Bureau.

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he still expects joint agency inspections of children's social care to begin from June 2013.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 15 April 2013
	Ofsted made an announcement on its plans for multi-agency inspections on 12 April 2013. The full text of the announcement can be found at:
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/news/single-inspection-framework-for-childrens-services?news=20671

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on the basis of what experience and qualifications Professor Julian Le Grand has been appointed to review the structure and governance arrangements of Doncaster's children's social care services.

Edward Timpson: Professor Le Grand, Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics, is an eminent social policy academic, who is independent and has a strong understanding of alternative forms of social policy delivery. He will be supported in his review by Alan Wood, Director of Children's Services for the London borough of Hackney, who has expertise in the delivery of education and children's services directly for a local authority and via an independent Trust arrangement.

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the reasons were for the time taken to bring forward the measures he has announced in his recent direction to Doncaster regarding children's social care services.

Edward Timpson: The nature and extent of the failings in children's social care in Doncaster are serious and longstanding. It is more important, therefore, to take the time to get any intervention right, than to rush into measures which may have less chance of success. The Secretary of State for Education and I have therefore consulted the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband), the right hon. Member for Doncaster Central (Ms Winterton), and the right hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint), in considering these steps. Departmental officials have also been in close touch with Doncaster council.

Children's Improvement Board

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the decision was taken to end funding of the Children's Improvement Board; and for what reason the board was not told before the start of the new financial year.

Edward Timpson: The decision not to provide funding for the Children's Improvement Board (CIB) in 2013/14 was taken in early April and communicated immediately to the members of the board.

Class Sizes: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average class size was for (a) secondary and (b) primary schools in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency in each of the last three years.

David Laws: The number of pupils in state-funded mainstream primary schools in England, including information on class sizes, is published as part of the Statistical First Release ‘Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2012'.
	The average class size for state-funded mainstream primary and secondary schools in the Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency is given in the following table.
	
		
			  2010 2011 2012 
			 Primary 27.6 27.8 27.2 
			 Secondary 19.9 20.0 19.3 
			 Source: School Census, January 2010, January 2011 and January 2012

Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Children Review

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what progress his Department has made on its stocktake of implementation of the Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he will consider bringing forward legislative proposals to implement the recommendations of the Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when the Government will publish their findings from the stocktake on progress on implementation of the Bailey Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: Good progress has been made on implementing the recommendations made in Reg Bailey's report, ‘Letting Children be Children’. The recommendations were directed mainly at businesses and regulators and they have responded positively.
	We expect to publish a full report on progress shortly and to say what further action we would like to see taken to tackle the excessive commercialisation and premature sexualisation of childhood, and what action we will take.

Computers

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers and (c) tablet devices his Department has purchased in the last two years.

Elizabeth Truss: During the past two financial years a total of (a) 487 desktop computers (b) 1,433 laptop computers and (c) two tablet devices have been purchased by the Department for Education. The Department is phasing out the use of desktop computers and replacing them with more cost-effective and energy efficient thin client devices. During this period a total of 702 thin client devices have also been purchased.

Curriculum

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he plans to encourage schools to introduce economics and business studies in key stage 3.

Elizabeth Truss: We have no plans to encourage maintained secondary schools actively to teach subjects that are not part of the existing statutory curriculum. As part of the current review of the national curriculum, we announced on 7 February our decision that the existing subjects at key stages 3 and 4 will continue to be statutory in future. We are, however, slimming down the national curriculum by prescribing much shorter programmes of study for subjects beyond primary English, mathematics and science. The aim is to create more freedom for schools to design their own wider curricula which best meet the needs of their students. It is, therefore, open to schools to teach economics or business studies at key stage 3 should they wish to do so.

Curriculum

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether additional funding for continuing professional development and classroom resources will be available to implement the new national curriculum.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The Government believe that schools are best placed to decide which teaching resources and professional development meet their needs to ensure successful implementation of the new curriculum, and to secure these accordingly. We therefore expect schools to identify their priorities for action and spending, building on current areas of strength, and to identify appropriate sources of support.
	We recognise that some priorities will be common to many schools. To assist with this we are working with subject experts, publishers, educational suppliers and others to identify what support for schools is already in place and any gaps that need to be filled, and how that might be done.
	We are also ensuring that existing opportunities funded by Government meet the needs of the new national curriculum. For example, the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) has recently released free video training materials focused on calculation. Matched funding of £3,000 for phonics materials and training has been extended until October 2013. In March we announced £150 million per year of ring-fenced funding for primary school sport.

Education: Assessments

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect that his proposed changes to examinations may have on children with autism who struggle with phraseology or the interpretation of questions in formal written examinations; and if he will provide guidance to (a) further and higher education institutions and (b) prospective employers on what considerations and adaptations should be made for such people whose educational qualifications may have been particularly affected by that type of assessment.

Edward Timpson: The Government's aim is for all children and young people with SEN or disabilities to reach their full potential in school and make a successful transition into adulthood, whether into employment, further or higher education or training.
	The independent regulator for qualifications and assessment, Ofqual, is progressing qualifications reform as part of its regulatory responsibilities. In doing so, it is conducting equality impact assessments on new qualifications at 16 for children with disabilities (including autism).
	It is a matter for Ofqual, in conjunction with awarding organisations, exam centres and employers, to consider the most appropriate way in which new qualifications and assessment objectives are designed so that the needs of disabled pupils are met.

Education: Birmingham

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much capital expenditure there has been in the education sector in Birmingham in each year since 2010.

David Laws: Capital support provided to Birmingham and its schools since 2010-11 is set out in the following table. These figures exclude capital investment worth approximately £50 million that was delivered through private finance initiatives during this period.
	
		
			 Financial year Capital funding (£ million)(1) 
			 2010-11 127.9 
			 2011-12 187.4 
			 2012-13 126.9 
			 (1) Excludes investment through private finance initiatives.

Food Technology

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what provision is made in the national curriculum at (a) primary and (b) secondary school for teaching children how to cook or eat healthily.

Elizabeth Truss: As announced by the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), to the House of Commons on 7 February 2013, Official Report, columns 441-3, we are proposing that from 2014, the design and technology requirements for schools should be strengthened, so that all pupils in primary schools will learn the principles of healthy eating and where food comes from as part of the design and technology curriculum. As long as their school has access to a kitchen, they will also be taught basic cooking techniques and how to cook a variety of savoury dishes.
	In secondary schools, we are proposing that food should be compulsory as part of design and technology for all pupils at key stage 3 for the first time. Pupils will be taught about the importance of nutrition, a balanced diet, and about the characteristics of a broad range of ingredients. As long as their school has access to a kitchen, they will also be taught to cook a repertoire of savoury meals and become confident in a range of cooking techniques
	Pupils currently learn about the principles of a balanced diet and healthy eating in science, and this teaching can be extended through personal, social, health and economic education where pupils learn about how a balanced diet and making choices for being healthy contribute to their personal well-being.
	Food technology is currently an element of design and technology, and can also include healthy eating and practical cookery. In primary schools pupils are taught how to follow safe procedures for food safety and hygiene and design and make assignments using a range of materials, including food and textiles. Secondary schools must teach design and technology, but can choose whether to teach textiles or cookery.

Foster Care

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has issued any guidance to local authorities regarding the advising of residents to become foster carers as a way of avoiding being disadvantaged by the effect of changes in housing benefit; and whether he has had any discussions with Ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions about the extent of such practice.

Edward Timpson: Guidance has not been issued to local authorities about advising residents to become foster carers as a way of avoiding being disadvantaged by the effect of changes in housing benefit.
	Regular meetings, at both ministerial and official level, are held with the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss a range of issues, including the housing benefit reforms.
	There are robust requirements for the approval of foster carers, including an assessment, carried out by a qualified social worker, of the suitability of the applicant to become a foster carer, and the suitability of their household. The assessment and recommendation must then be presented to a fostering panel for approval.

GCE AS-level

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 143W, on GCE: AS level, what assessment he has made of the number of universities who use AS levels to assess applications; and which universities do not use AS levels as part of the application process.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 25 March 2013
	We know that universities use a range of information and evidence about applicants for admissions purposes. Even within individual universities, there may be different approaches between subjects. Changes to the AS and A levels may mean that some universities may need to make changes to admissions processes. However, the impact assessment of A level reforms commissioned by Ofqual and published in November 2012 found that around three quarters of the higher education institutions with whom the researchers spoke based their selection decisions on predicted A level grades. The research is available on the Ofqual website.

Head Teachers

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many head teachers had the National Professional Qualification for Headship in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.

David Laws: holding answer 17 April 2013
	The information is as follows.
	
		
			 Head teachers of maintained schools held NPQH in: Number Percentage 
			 2011 13,270 61 
			 2010 12,492 58 
			 2009 9,679 44 
		
	
	The figures are not yet available for 2012 (they require the data from the 2012 School Workforce Census which will be available in May 2013) nor yet for 2013 (they require data from the 2013 School Workforce Census which will be collected from schools in autumn 2013 and available in May 2014).

History: Curriculum

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which definition and measurement of progression his Department used to construct the proposed orders for history for key stages 1 to 3.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 22 April 2013
	In accordance with the remit for the review of the national curriculum in England, the proposed programmes of study for history set out, by key stage, the essential knowledge and skills that should be taught to all pupils attending maintained schools.
	In order to address weaknesses that have been highlighted in pupils' chronological understanding, not least by Ofsted, the programmes of study suggest that subject content should be taught as a coherent chronological narrative, particularly at key stage 2 and key stage 3. They also include a clearly stated expectation that, by the end of those key stages, pupils should know, apply and understand the content specified therein.

History: Curriculum

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education who wrote the final draft of the orders for the new history curriculum.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The draft programmes of study for history published for consultation on 7 February 2013 were authored by officials working in the Department's National Curriculum Review Division following discussion with a number of subject experts. Details of all those individuals and organisations consulted during that process have been published on the Department's website(1).
	(1)Note:
	http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/l/lists%20of%20commentators%20-%20final.pdf

Literacy: Primary Education

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his plans are for the future of the Every Child a Reader programme.

Elizabeth Truss: The Every Child a Reader programme is being taken forward by the Institute of Education which owns the licensing rights. The Department is funding the management of the Reading Support intervention programme, a literacy catch-up programme that, like Every Child a Reader, aims to improve the teaching of reading in schools and enable the lowest attaining children to achieve age-related expectations in reading at the end of key stage 1. We are committed to supporting this programme to the end of July 2014.

Parents: Marriage

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether his Department has commissioned or conducted research into whether children are more successful in (a) education and (b) other areas of life if they are raised by parents who are married;
	(2)  whether his Department has commissioned or conducted research into whether parents are more likely to stay together if they are married.

Edward Timpson: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The Department has not commissioned or conducted research into child outcomes for children raised by parents who are married or into whether parents are more likely to stay together if they are married. There is, however, significant existing research and evidence in this area.
	From existing research we know that the children of married parents do better than the children of cohabiting parents, particularly on measures of social and emotional development at the ages of three and five(1). However, these differences could be due to the fact that those who choose to marry and remain married often have other characteristics, such as greater wealth and a higher level of education, which support them in their parenting.
	We also know from existing studies that relationship stability is stronger among married couples(2) and that married adults have better physical and emotional wellbeing than those who are divorced(3). The evidence also shows, however, that relationships must be of high quality to result in positive health outcomes. Health outcomes for single people are for instance more positive than for those reporting unhappy marriages. Studies show that good couple relationships of any kind lead to better mental and physical health for all involved(4).
	(1) Crawford C., Goodman A., Greaves E. and Joyce R. (2011) Cohabitation, marriage, relationship stability and child outcomes; an update. London. Institute for Fiscal Studies.
	(2) Benson H. (2010) Family breakdown in the UK: it's NOT about divorce. Bristol: Bristol Community Family Trust.
	(3) Lynas, P, Trend, M, Ashcroft, J, and Caroe, P (2008) When Relationships Go Wrong—Counting the cost of family failure. Relationships Foundation.
	(4) Coleman, L, and Glenn, F., 2009. When Couples part: understanding the consequences for adults and children. London: One Plus One.

Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what criteria are used in (a) his Department and (b) each public body for which he is responsible to determine which officials receive bonus payments.

Elizabeth Truss: The senior civil service are assessed against their objectives and against Cabinet Office definitions. In identifying exceptional and top performers we will be paying particular attention to the following:
	active contribution to the DFE review;
	the efforts made to identify and implement improvements to processes and/or policies across the Department;
	evidence of being highly effective in managing, championing and dealing with change;
	the difficulty and size of job;
	evidence of consistently high levels of delivery and a sustained and demonstrable commitment to getting the basics right (including proper attention to detail);
	evidence of creative approaches to problem-solving/breaking down barriers to delivery;
	whether the individual commands the absolute confidence of Ministers and the board;
	whether they have delivered within budget and managed/mitigated risk effectively;
	the engagement and performance of the individual's staff; and
	implementing the performance management system to support the identification of talent and rigorous management of poor performers, with the expectation that top performers must demonstrate excellence in management.
	Staff below SCS will be assessed based on the guidance for the ratings. Exceptional and top performers will have consistently exceeded their objectives and demonstrated that:
	they have actively engaged with the DFE review;
	they have made efforts to identify and implement improvements to processes and/or policies across the Department;
	they are fully engaged in dealing with change (for managers this includes understanding and explaining the need for change);
	they can work effectively and independently and without support to exceed expectations when delivering ministerial business (demonstrating a creative and imaginative approach, actively seeking opportunities and rising to the challenge);
	they have a strong, corporate commitment and are prepared to go above and beyond the call of duty when necessary to ensure departmental priorities are met successfully;
	they deploy resources to maximum effect ensuring attention to detail, mitigating and managing risks effectively and are proactive in overcoming obstacles that could not be foreseen;
	they demonstrate a commitment to and excellence in people and relationship management, acting as an exemplar for others through their work, behaviour and relationships, with a strong commitment to equality and diversity (achieving a high level of performance from a wide range of people, e.g. staff, colleagues, partners);
	they demonstrate competence above expectations in all the skill areas required for their post and exemplifying the civil service ‘4 Ps’ of Pride, Passion, Pace and Professionalism;
	they demonstrate a strong commitment to improving their own performance and to continuous personal development; and
	they are implementing the performance management system to support the identification of talent and rigorous management of poor performers, with the expectation that top performers must demonstrate excellence in management.

Plants

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department has spent on indoor and outdoor plants and trees since his appointment.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department for Education has not purchased any indoor or outdoor plants or trees since May 2010.
	However, between April 2005 and March 2010, the Department spent the following amount on pot plants:
	
		
			  Spend (£000) 
			 2005/06 53.7 
			 2006/07 42.6 
			 2007/08 42.8 
		
	
	
		
			 2008/09 33.0 
			 2009/10 5.8

Recruitment

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department has spent on advertising job vacancies since May 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department has spent £71,973.30 on advertising vacancies since May 2010.

School Meals

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to reports of pork DNA in the food supply chain, what assessment his Department has made of the halal meat served in schools.

Elizabeth Truss: Food contamination of this sort represents a serious breach of consumer trust. Food business operators are responsible for ensuring the food that they supply meets food law requirements.
	The Food Standards Agency (FSA) leads the Government response to contaminated food and the Department for Education has been in regular contact with the FSA as investigations have continued. The FSA provides advice to local authorities and publishes the results of industry testing. Where cases of pork DNA in halal meat have been identified, local authorities have worked with schools to advise consumers and withdraw products.
	If schools have any concerns about their meat products, they should contact their caterers, suppliers or local authority for further information.

Schools: Finance

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many maintained schools completed and submitted the Schools Financial Value Standard to their local authority as of 31 March 2012.

David Laws: 1,440 maintained schools in England completed and submitted the Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) to their local authority as of 31 March 2012. Only schools that had failed to complete the former standard, the Financial Management Standard in Schools, were required to complete the SFVS in March 2012.

Schools: Leadership

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) national and (b) local leaders of education were in the education system in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013.

David Laws: The number of NLEs and LLEs in the years 2010 to 2013 are as follows:
	
		
			  NLE LLE 
			 2010 424 1,191 
		
	
	
		
			 2011 586 2,096 
			 2012 721 2,182 
			 2013 812 2,078

Schools: Leadership

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many specialist leaders of education were in post on 1 January 2013.

David Laws: holding answer 17 April 2013
	The number of specialist leaders of education designated on 1 January 2013 was 1,955.

Social Networking

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department's (a) computers or (b) mobile telephones have been used to (i) update and (ii) maintain the @toryeducation education Twitter account.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not routinely monitor Twitter usage beyond its official account (@educationgov). The Observer has made unsubstantiated allegations that employees of the Department contribute to or control the @toryeducation Twitter feed. Despite repeated requests for evidence to substantiate these allegations (from the Permanent Secretary, from the Cabinet Secretary, and from the Secretary of State), no evidence has been provided. If it were to be provided, we would of course look at it and decide on the appropriate next steps.

Social Networking

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will hold discussions with his special advisers to ensure they are not responsible for the (a) updating and (b) maintenance of the @toryeducation Twitter account.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 17 April 2013
	The Observer has made unsubstantiated allegations that employees of the Department contribute to or control the @toryeducation Twitter feed. Despite repeated requests for evidence to substantiate these allegations (from the Permanent Secretary, from the Cabinet Secretary and from the Secretary of State), no evidence has been provided. If it were to be provided, we would of course look at it and decide on the appropriate next steps.

Social Networking

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  whether he has authorised the giving of information to the Twitter account @toryeducation; and whether he is aware of (a) his special advisers and (b) officials in his Department doing so;
	(2)  whether his Department has held any inquiries on information being passed from his Department to the author of the @toryeducation Twitter account.

Elizabeth Truss: The Observer has made unsubstantiated allegations that employees of the Department contribute to or control the @toryeducation Twitter feed. Despite repeated requests for evidence to substantiate these allegations (from the Permanent Secretary, from the Cabinet Secretary, and from the Secretary of State), no evidence has been provided. If it were to be provided, we would of course look at it and decide on the appropriate next steps.

Special Educational Needs

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what provisions will be made under the Children and Families Bill for children who currently have School Action or School Action Plus provision;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there are sufficient educational psychologists and speech and language therapists to support education, health and care plans;
	(3)  what provision he will make in future for children with a disability who do not qualify for an education, health and care plan;
	(4)  how schools will plan their special educational needs provisions when parents assume responsibility for budgets;
	(5)  who will be responsible for ensuring that parents understand how the assessment process for education, heath and care plans works; and which agencies are involved in that process;
	(6)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that classroom teachers are trained to teach children with autism;
	(7)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure a consistent approach to special educational needs across local education authorities;
	(8)  what steps his Department is taking to improve selection and training of special educational needs co-ordinators in schools.

Edward Timpson: The hon. Member for Banbury asked similar questions at Second Reading of the Children and Families Bill, on 25 February 2013, Official Report, column 104. I wrote to the hon. Member on 27 February to provide detailed answers to the questions asked and have placed a copy of my letter in the Library.

Special Educational Needs

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effects of reductions in local authority budgets on the ability to deliver services included in local offers;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure schools deliver better outcomes for children with special educational needs who will not be entitled to an education, health and care plan;
	(3)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of families with disabled children who cannot access the services they need locally.

Edward Timpson: On the questions about local authority budgets and better outcomes for children without an education, health and care plan, I refer the hon. Member to the replies given to similar questions from the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green), on 25 February 2013, Official Report, column 64W and the hon. Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland), on 21 March 2013, Official Report, column 807W.
	With regard to the third question, the Department has not made such an assessment. Under the provisions in the Children and Families Bill, the local offer will set out the range of services available locally for children with special educational needs and local authorities will be required to work with children, young people and parents in drawing up and reviewing their local offers.

Staff

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many days of work were carried out by officials in (a) his Department and (b) each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies on average in each of the last five years; and what the total salary cost was of officials in each year.

Elizabeth Truss: The table estimates the number of days of work carried out and takes account of weekends, annual leave and the average number of days lost each year for sick absence. Total pay costs are as given in the Annual Accounts and include costs of employers' NI and pension costs. Due to changes in reporting structures over these years the information for 2010/11 and 2011/12 covers the Department, its agencies and its non-departmental public bodies, while information for the previous two years covers only the core Department (the then Department for Children, Schools and Families).
	Information for the 2012/13 financial year is not yet available.
	
		
			  2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 
			 Staff numbers as at the end of each financial year (1)2,701 (1)2,550 (2)7,819 (2)7,341 
			 Working days for the Department and its agencies 579,364 546,975 1,677,176 1,574,645 
			 Total pay costs (£ million) 135 145 347 337 
			 (1 )Figures based on staff in post as listed in the 2010/11 Annual Report and Accounts. (2) Figures based on full-time equivalent staff numbers as listed in the 2011/12 Annual Report and Accounts.

Staff

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many full-time equivalent officials in his Department are working on (a) children in care and (b) adoption (i) currently and (ii) in May 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 18 April 2013
	In May 2010 the Department had one division covering both children in care and adoption. That division had 34.52 full-time equivalent officials. In March 2013 the Department had 21.73 full-time equivalent officials working on children in care and 23.26 full-time equivalent officials working on adoption.
	After departmental restructuring, staff will be deployed flexibly across a portfolio of roles that will include work on children in care and adoption.

Training

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what training courses (a) he and (b) staff in his ministerial private office have undertaken in the last 12 months.

Elizabeth Truss: holding answer 22 April 2013
	Details about which training courses the Secretary of State for Education and staff in his ministerial private office have undertaken in the last 12 months are not held centrally.

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Departments

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients had to wait longer than four hours in accident and emergency at (a) Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (b) Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust in (i) the most recent week for which figures are available and (ii) the same week in the previous year.

Anna Soubry: The following table shows the number of patients who waited more than four hours in accident and emergency departments at the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust within the time scales stipulated.
	
		
			 Patients who waited more than four hours in Accident and Emergency 
			 Trust Week ending 14 April 2013 Week ending 15 April 2012 
			 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 266 75 
			 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 259 440

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Therese Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the 2013-14 funding allocations to clinical commissioning groups are on a per capita basis by (a) parliamentary constituency, (b) administrative county and (c) region.

Daniel Poulter: Per capita figures on clinical commissioning group allocations are not available by parliamentary constituency because the boundaries are different from those of clinical commissioning groups. A document showing per capita allocations for 2013-14 for those upper tier and unitary local authorities which are coterminous with a clinical commissioning group has been placed in the Library. Clinical commissioning group 2013-14 per capita allocations by region are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Clinical commissioning group per capita allocations by region 2013-14 
			  2013-14 clinical commissioning group allocations per capita (£) 
			 North East 1,315 
			 North West 1,244 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1,190 
			 West Midlands 1,113 
			 East Midlands 1,077 
			 East of England 1,055 
			 London 1,119 
			 South East 1,074 
			 South West 1,132 
			   
			 England 1,135 
		
	
	
		
			 Notes: 1. Regions do not fully correspond to Government office regions or Office for National Statistics regions due to different boundaries. 2. Allocations are made to CCGs. The regional figures are the average for the CCG in each region. 3. Per capita figures are based on the number of patients registered with general practitioner practices in each CCG. 4. CCG allocations are not comparable to primary care trust allocations due to different commissioning responsibilities. 5. CCG allocations were published on 18 December 2012. They may be subject to revision due to baseline changes. 6. CCG allocations published on 18 December 2012 exclude running cost allowances which were calculated on a different basis. Source: NHS England

Coeliac Disease

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to introduce early coeliac screening blood tests.

Norman Lamb: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the national health service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. Using research evidence, pilot programmes and economic evaluation, the Committee assesses the evidence for programmes against a set of internationally recognised criteria.
	The UK NSC reviewed the evidence for screening for coeliac disease in 2008 and concluded that it does not meet the criteria for a national screening programme. There was a lack of knowledge of the natural history of the undetected cases and it was unclear whether patients detected through screening would adhere to a gluten free diet, therefore the real benefit of screening was questionable.
	The policy is due to be reviewed later in the year.

Diabetes: Children

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many accident and emergency (a) attendances and (b) admissions for diabetes treatment for children aged 0 to 18 years there were for each trust in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: Information on emergency admissions for children with a primary diagnosis of diabetes has been placed in the Library.
	Information on accident and emergency attendances for diabetes is not separately available.

Diseases

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his best estimate is of the number of people in England with (a) multiple sclerosis, (b) Huntington's disease and (c) 22q deletion syndrome.

Norman Lamb: holding answer 22 April 2013
	The Department does not hold the information centrally.
	The Health and Social Care Information Centre have advised that Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) only supply information on the number of in-patient hospital episodes where the diagnosis was present. However, since it is not known what proportion of people with each condition would be treated in hospital, nor how many times they would be treated in a year, the number of patients with each of these conditions cannot be estimated.

Family Nurse Partnership Programme

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Family Nurse Partnership Programme in addressing the relevant priorities of the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

Daniel Poulter: The Family Nurse Partnership programme is based on more than 30 years of United States of America research that has shown significant benefits for disadvantaged young families. Early evaluation in England is promising, suggesting that the programme can be delivered well here, clients like it and the potential for impact is good in relation to the Public Health Outcomes Framework indicators relating to smoking in pregnancy, breastfeeding and birth weight. Additionally, mothers are very positive about their parenting capacity and have improved self-esteem.

Family Nurse Partnership Programme

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to encourage take-up of the Family Nurse Partnership Programme in deprived areas.

Daniel Poulter: The Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) programme offers an evidence-based approach to supporting young, at risk, first time mothers, their babies and their partners. The Government has committed to increasing the number of places on the programme to 16,000 by 2015. FNP is present in the majority of the most disadvantaged local authority areas in England, and the majority of women who are offered a place on the programme take this place up.

Family Nurse Partnership Programme

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2013, Official Report, column 712W, on the Family Nurse Partnership Programme, what the take-up of the scheme has been in each local authority.

Daniel Poulter: The following table sets out the number of families enrolled on the Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) programme by site between April 2007 (when the programme began in England) and 31 March 2013. The relevant local authority area is also included.
	FNP sites are not always coterminous with local authority areas, as some sites offer services to part of or more than one local authority area. FNP sites are made up of one family nurse supervisor and up to eight family nurses delivering a maximum of 200 FNP places at any one time.
	The numbers of families enrolled by site vary according to the number of places they have available and when the programme started in that area. New FNP sites build up their caseloads over a 12-month period, and some sites will be at the very early stages of recruitment. The FNP programme lasts for approximately two and half years, from early pregnancy until the child is two years old. At this point a new client can be recruited to the place.
	
		
			 FNP site name Number of women ever enrolled 31 March 2013 Local authority area covered 
			 Barking and Dagenham 98 Barking and Dagenham 
			 Barnet 85 Barnet 
			 Barnsley 329 Barnsley 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 17 Bath and North East Somerset 
			 Berkshire East 345 Slough Windsor and Maidenhead, Bracknell Forest 
			 Berkshire West 30 Reading, West Berkshire, Wokingham 
			 Birmingham 1 124 Birmingham, Solihull 
			 Birmingham 2 163 Birmingham 
			 Birmingham 3 40 Birmingham, Solihull 
			 Blackpool 178 Blackpool 
			 Bolton 108 Bolton 
			 Bradford 196 Bradford 
			 Brighton and Hove 28 Brighton and Hove 
			 Buckinghamshire 39 Buckinghamshire 
			 Calderdale 165 Calderdale 
			 Cambridgeshire 131 Cambridgeshire 
			 Cheshire East 57 Cheshire East 
			 Cornwall 261 Cornwall 
			 Coventry 185 Coventry 
			 Croydon 112 Croydon 
			 Cumbria 142 Cumbria 
			 Derby 1 355 Derby 
			 Derbyshire 149 Derbyshire 
			 Doncaster 157 Doncaster 
			 Dudley 8 Dudley 
			 Durham and Darlington 1 398 County Durham, Darlington 
			 Durham and Darlington 2 130 County Durham, Darlington 
			 Ealing 167 Ealing 
			 East Sussex—East 246 East Sussex 
			 East Sussex— West 137 East Sussex 
			 Gateshead and South Tyneside 181 Gateshead, South Tyneside 
			 Great Yarmouth and Waveney 162 Norfolk (part), Suffolk (part) 
			 Haringey 113 Haringey 
			 Hertfordshire 112 Hertfordshire 
			 Hounslow 75 Hounslow 
			 Hull 222 Hull 
			 Islington 209 Islington 
			 Kent 90 Kent 
			 Kirklees 240 Kirklees 
			 Knowsley 149 Knowsley 
			 Lambeth 155 Lambeth 
			 Leeds 246 Leeds 
			 Leicester 97 Leicester 
			 Lewisham 161 Lewisham 
			 Liverpool 264 Liverpool 
			 Manchester 1 361 Manchester 
			 Manchester 2 169 Manchester 
			 Medway 223 Medway 
			 Milton Keynes 184 Milton Keynes 
			 Norfolk 201 Norfolk 
			 North and North-East Lincolnshire 85 North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire 
		
	
	
		
			 North Tees 64 Stockton on Tees, Hartlepool 
			 Northamptonshire 212 Northamptonshire 
			 Nottingham 1 294 Nottingham 
			 Nottingham 2 56 Nottingham 
			 Nottinghamshire 34 Nottinghamshire 
			 Oxfordshire 241 Oxfordshire 
			 Peterborough 85 Peterborough 
			 Plymouth 168 Plymouth 
			 Portsmouth 83 Portsmouth 
			 Rotherham 77 Rotherham 
			 Sandwell 186 Sandwell 
			 Sheffield 241 Sheffield 
			 Somerset 110 Somerset, stopped delivering FNP 2010 
			 South East Essex 270 Southend on Sea, Essex (part) 
			 South Tees 51 Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland 
			 Southampton 193 Southampton 
			 Southwark 290 Southwark 
			 Staffordshire—Cannock and Tamworth 5 Staffordshire (part) 
			 Stockport 111 Stockport, stopped delivering FNP 2011 
			 Stoke on Trent 201 Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire (part) 
			 Sunderland 169 Sunderland 
			 Swindon 189 Swindon 
			 Telford and Wrekin 143 Telford and Wrekin 
			 Tower Hamlets 359 Tower Hamlets 
			 Wakefield 89 Wakefield 
			 Walsall 338 Walsall 
			 Waltham Forest 137 Waltham Forest 
			 Warwickshire 135 Warwickshire 
			 West Central London 127 Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea 
			 West Cheshire 94 West Cheshire 
			 West Sussex 96 West Sussex 
			 Wigan 89 Wigan 
			 Wirral 199 Wirral 
			 Total 13,415

Health Centres: Christchurch

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 January 2013, Official Report, column 698W, on health centres: Christchurch, whether his Department has disposed of its interest in Christchurch Health Centre.

Daniel Poulter: The Department has not yet disposed of its interest in the property. The surrender of the lease is dependent upon the landlord finalising agreements with the proposed hotel operator, the freeholder and other interested parties which are outside the Department's control. It is understood that this is likely to take place shortly.

Heart Diseases: Children

Stuart Andrew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much NHS Specialised Services has spent on external communications consultants for the Safe and Sustainable Review of children's heart surgery services in England and Wales and JCPCT decision-making process to date;
	(2)  how much has been spent by the NHS on legal costs for the judicial review case brought by Save Our Surgery Ltd;
	(3)  how much NHS Specialised Services has spent in total on the Safe and Sustainable Review of children's heart surgery services in England and Wales and the JCPCT decision-making process to date.

Anna Soubry: The figures requested are tabled as follows:
	
		
			 Costs incurred by NHS Specialised Services on the Safe and Sustainable review of children's heart services in England and Wales and the Joint Committee of Primary Care Trusts decision-making process, to March 2013 
			  £ 
			 Legal costs for the judicial review case brought by Save Our Surgery Ltd 301,000 
			 External communications consultants 1,740,000 
			 Other costs incurred (from 2009-10 to 2012-13 inclusive) 6,036,000

Horses: Slaughterhouses

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 521W, on horses: slaughterhouses, how many horses have been slaughtered in (a) total and (b) each abattoir in the UK in each of the last five months for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: The Food Standards Agency records the number of solipeds (a mammal having a single hoof on each foot, including horses, hinnies, mules and asses) slaughtered in the United Kingdom.
	The following table provides details on the total number of solipeds slaughtered in the last five months, for which figures are available. The majority of animals will be horses:
	
		
			 Month Number of solipeds slaughtered in the United Kingdom 
			 November 2012 890 
			 December 2012 655 
			 January 2013 488 
			 February 2013 382 
			 March 2013 600 
		
	
	Details of the number of horses slaughtered in each of the abattoirs in each of the last five months, have not been provided as to release such information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the abattoirs concerned.

Hospitals: Admissions

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many accident and emergency (a) attendences and (b) admissions for (i) epilepsy and (ii) asthma treatment there were for children aged 0 to 18 in each hospital trust in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Anna Soubry: Information on emergency admissions for children with a primary diagnosis of epilepsy and asthma has been placed in the Library.
	Information on accident and emergency attendances for epilepsy and asthma is not separately available.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is planning to take to allow mitochondrial transfer IVF technique to move forward following the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority consultation findings.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave to her on 16 April 2013, Official Report, column 339W.

Maternity Services

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2013, Official Report, column 715W, on maternity services: Northamptonshire, and with reference to the announcement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter) on 24 January 2013 that more than 100 hospitals will share a £25 million fund to improve their maternity units, what his Department's role is in the co-ordination, planning and announcement of (a) improvements and (b) other changes to maternity services.

Daniel Poulter: From 1 April 2013, the Department's role is to create national policies and provide the long-term vision and ambition to meet current and future challenges in maternity services. The Department secures resources, sets national priorities and holds the health and social care system to account on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health.
	Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning maternity services locally that improve choice of place of birth, continuity of care and women's experience of care. It is for CCGs, working with local authorities through health and wellbeing boards, and in conjunction with provider partners, to identify where and how maternity services can be improved. NHS England has developed a maternity commissioning resource pack for CCGs. NHS England will also enable these local discussions and processes to happen and will respond proactively to CCGs when they require support to reshape services.
	Reconfiguration of front line maternity services should be locally-led and clinically-driven. The underlying rationale for any reconfiguration should be that changes deliver a real improvement in quality and outcomes for patients. The guiding principles for national health service reconfigurations are that schemes should have support from clinical commissioners, clarity on the clinical evidence base, robust patient and public engagement and support for patient choice.

Members: Correspondence

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Bridgend of 18 March 2013, reference MM/JH/18/03/2013.

Daniel Poulter: My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Earl Howe), replied to the hon. Member's letter of 18 March 2013 on 18 April 2013.

Midwives

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to provide incentives for hospitals and trusts to use newly-trained bank midwives for the purposes of allowing new midwives finding placements to gain experience whilst waiting for full-time positions to become available.

Daniel Poulter: In delivering a high quality service, it is the responsibility of the local national health service organisations to plan and deliver a workforce appropriate to the needs of their local population, based on clinical need and sound evidence. The decision on how local providers source their requirement is a matter for local determination.

Midwives

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to (a) update Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications and (b) introduce a minimum (i) number of hours of training for midwives and (ii) proportion of training for midwives that must be clinical practice.

Daniel Poulter: The Directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications is under review by the European Commission and includes amendments relating to the training of midwives. The Department is working closely with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office during negotiations, which are set to conclude from mid-2013. The United Kingdom has been an active member of the European Council Working Groups to develop the proposals, and the Department has worked closely with the key national groups affected by the issue.

NHS: Legal Costs

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS has spent on compensation, litigation and legal fees since May 2010.

Daniel Poulter: The NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA) provided the following data in respect of payments that it has made in relation to litigation between May 2010 and March 2012. Audited data are not yet available for April 2012 to March 2013.
	
		
			  £000 
			 Damages paid 1,556,716 
			 Claimant costs 464,697 
			 Defence costs 143,341 
			 Source: NHS Litigation Authority, April 2013 
		
	
	Firstly, it should be noted that some of the payments relate to incidents that occurred prior to May 2010 rather than wholly incidents that occurred during the period. Additionally, the damages, claimant legal costs and defence legal costs will cover a different cohort of claims.
	The data only cover claims made against members of the NHS indemnity schemes, which primarily cover clinical negligence, employers' and public liabilities. The non-clinical scheme also operates ‘excess’ levels, with claims below excess funded by individual members. Data therefore only represent expenditure by the NHS LA under these schemes.

NHS: Temporary Employment

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to ensure that NHS trusts granted funding to employ contract staff under Agenda for Change honour the contracts they enter into with (a) contracted staff and (b) the companies who recruit them; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Employers have the freedom to determine the terms and conditions including pay for the staff they employ. It is right that employers locally, not government, make their own decisions about the employment contracts that enable them to recruit and retain the caring staff the national health service needs. Employers cannot change employment contracts unilaterally; they must consult their staff and or staff representatives and seek agreement.
	All employers are expected to meet their obligations under employment law, including those under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations.

Nurses

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the current availability of (a) school nurses, (b) health visitors and (c) community children's nurses is in each local authority area.

Daniel Poulter: The Non-Medical Workforce Census, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, shows that as of 30 September 2012 there were 21,443 full time equivalent qualified school nurses, health visitors, and children's nursing staff employed by the national health service in England.
	The full breakdown of the numbers by strategic health authority area and by organisation have been placed in the Library. The overall number of children's nurses is 11,883, health visitors 8,386 and school nurses 1,174.
	It is important to note that it is currently impossible to isolate the true numbers of community children's nurses (CCNs) from the overall number of children's nurses in the workforce census data. Current guidance suggests that the numbers of CCNs be included with the numbers of children's nurses who work primarily within acute settings.

Pigs

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of pigs slaughtered for human consumption in the UK are bred and reared in a totally indoor environment.

Anna Soubry: Based on information held by the Food Standards Agency (England, Scotland and Wales) and Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Northern Ireland), details of the numbers of pigs slaughtered for human consumption in the United Kingdom between 1 January and 31 December 2012 are provided in the following table by production system.
	It should be noted that a high percentage of sows in the UK are kept outdoors and give birth outdoors and the table also includes these figures. Most of the born outdoors pigs are put into indoor accommodation for the growing/finishing period. Only a small percentage of growing pigs will spend their entire lives outdoors in free-range conditions. This is how the differential between born outdoors and fully outdoor pigs is made.
	
		
			 Production system 
			  Born outdoors Indoors Not provided Other systems Outdoors Total 
			 Number of pigs 497,999 5,258,670 3,240,316 113,089 217,740 9,327,814 
			 Percentage of total throughput 5.33 56.37 34.73 1.21 2.33 —

Pigs

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of pigs slaughtered for human consumption in the UK are recorded as having abscesses in the lymph nodes in their heads; and what inspection procedures are carried out by Food Standards Agency inspectors to ensure that such abscesses do not enter the human food chain.

Anna Soubry: Between 1 January and 31 December 2012, 37,609 (0.40%) incidences of abscesses were recorded in pig heads at post mortem inspection by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Great Britain and by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) in Northern Ireland.
	All carcases and accompanying offal are inspected without delay after slaughter. These include visual inspection of the head and throat of domestic swine with incision and examination of the submaxillary lymph nodes; and visual inspection of the mouth, fauces and tongue. The competent authority may decide, on the basis of epidemiological or other data from the holding, that certain fattening pigs housed under controlled housing conditions in integrated production systems since weaning, need only undergo visual inspection.
	Abscesses in pigs heads identified by FSA or DARD during the inspection procedure are removed by food business operator staff, along with affected lymph nodes, under supervision, and rejected for human consumption. Heads are then disposed off as a category 2 by-product by the food business operator, with verification of disposal carried out by FSA or DARD inspectors.

Polypropylene

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the use of (a) TVT, TVT-O and TOT medical devices and (b) other medical devices using surgical polypropylene synthetic mesh.

Norman Lamb: The Mandate to NHS England requires it to deliver continued improvements in relation to helping people recover from episodes of ill health or following injury.
	There are wide varieties of surgical treatments that have been developed using polypropylene synthetic mesh as a medical device.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has produced a clinical guideline on the use of vaginal tapes for stress urinary incontinence. Further guidance on the use of vaginal meshes for pelvic organ prolapse is set out in a series of interventional procedure guidance notes.
	The NHS England National Medical Director, Sir Bruce Keogh, wrote to all national health service surgeons and medical directors in November 2012 to raise their awareness of the NICE guidance on the use of these devices and gain their support in making surgery using vaginal tapes and meshes as safe and effective as possible.

Polypropylene

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints there have been to date to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency about the use of (a) TVT, TVT-O and TOT medical devices and (b) other medical devices using surgical polypropylene synthetic mesh.

Norman Lamb: Departmental and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency records indicate that to date there have been 24 items of correspondence complaining about the use of TVT, TVT-O and TOT medical devices and three relating to other medical devices using surgical polypropylene synthetic mesh.

Radiotherapy

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department collects information on the average distance cancer patients must travel from their homes to receive radiotherapy.

Anna Soubry: This information is not collected centrally.
	The National Radiotherapy Advisory Group (NRAG) report, ‘Radiotherapy: developing a world class service for England’, published in 2007, stated that 45 minutes travel time should be seen as best practice, although it recognised that this is not achievable in all areas. The report also found the vast majority of the population already live within 45 minutes of a radiotherapy centre. A copy of this report has already been placed in the Library.
	Since the publication of the NRAG report, the National Cancer Action Team, now part of NHS Improving Quality, has continued to provide advice to commissioners and providers to help them assess travel times for their patients and plan the location of new services.

Sir Robert Edwards

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to mark the death of Sir Robert Edwards.

Anna Soubry: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), paid tribute to Professor Sir Robert Edwards in the House on 16 April 2013, Official Report, column 162W.